What's Next
by owaranai.natsu
Summary: The Ori and Wraith are on their way to attack Earth. SG1 and the government must find a way to defeat them. In the midst of chaos, Sam and Jack redefine their relationship, while mysteries begin to unfold. [somewhat AU and sequel to 'What If'].
1. Revelations

**A/n:** First of all, I have to warn you that I've only seen and heard tidbits of SG-1's and SGA's latest season, so this sequel is based on what I think would happen if the Ori and Wraith showed up together. And I must also warn you that it may seem a little 'alternate reality,' but for all intents and purposes, it's meant to be 'what might've been or could be.' I realize the series premieres are in a month, so I have to hurry, but I doubt it will be anything like what they have planned for the show. But since I've read the spoilers, I think there may be a few similarities. There may also be a little ex duex machina (unconventional event) at the end. To tell you the truth, I have no idea where this is headed. You're in for an interesting ride, enjoy:) Btw, for those who haven't read the prequel, you don't have to, but I recommend reading it; it's one of my better fics:)  
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Disclaimer:** I own neither SG-1 or SGA, although perhaps, I wish it were so.

**Previously on 'What If'**- Jack received a call… a call that he wouldn't have expected to hear after the Goa'uld had been wiped out. They had a greater threat now: The Ori. And they were headed straight for Earth…with the Wraith…

* * *

**From the Book of Origins-**  
_"And those who are prideful, and refuse to bow down, shall be laid low and made into dust."_

_"Then did Tyolus say to the people of the low plains, 'seek not wickedness amongst your neighbors, lest it find purchase in your own house'."_

Those were the last words Daniel remembered uttering before the Ori assualted the Odyssey. And the last thing he remembered thinking before blacking out was that the Ori had won, and they were headed for Earth.

Back on Earth, Jack had just gotten off the phone with the President, who wasn't a happy camper after the dreaded news. The Ori and Wraith were coming, together no less. And the world was not ready.

From what General Hank Landry had said in a flushed voice on the phone, the Wraith had downloaded some information from one of the harddrives during the siege. No one was completely sure what they had managed to take, but after what happened during the Atlantian negotiations, the Wraith had definite plans on traveling to Earth for a new feeding ground. The Wraith had encountered the Ori Supergate on their way to Earth, but paid no attention to the battle. The Ori's 'influence' had extended to vasts parts of the galaxy and the Wraith knew that they would not benefit from an alliance with the Ori, because the Ori would want to convert them, and the Wraith would not comply. Yet, the Wraith could not terrorize the Ori themselves, merely their human followers. Either way, destruction was inevitable, once again.

For most of the clueless people on Earth, life continued as normal: nature flourished, love grew, and regular crime ensued. But, for the members of the SGC and parts of the Pentagon, panic and fear was in every soul. Some chose to hide it by diving deeper into finding a solution, while others kept quiet so as not to alarm the blissfully ignorant others. The President had to make a massive decision; he had to choose between finding a solution quietly or by uniting the world, and telling the public about the Stargate Program. This in itself would cause chaos and internal warring, but Earth was at stake, it would be courteous to warn others while possible, however futile the effort may be. It would be better to be 'in the know' than being hit blindly. According to the data assembled from all sources, scientists estimated the Wraith and Ori, either separately or together, would arrive in mere days. It would take at least a few hours to assemble an emergency meeting with the President's advisors and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as a few ambassadors and experts from the SGC. But even before that, General Hank Landry had already declared and imposed DEFCON 1 at the SGC. They would have to create the first-ever multinational army, a world force. And as Senator Kinsey learned the hard way, no army or navy or air force could eradicate the Goa'uld; they would soon learn that the Wraith and Ori were far more formidable enemies.

After many hours of deliberation, the President decided to give a press conference to alert the public about what was to happen, and what had been happening for the past decade. He would sooner instill the possible horrors to the public, than let his people die in ignorance of a war they did not know about.

"My fellow Americans, you all must be wondering what this is all about. I am here to alert you about an impending attack by a species we have not encountered before; there is much to do in the little time we have. Despite of my warning you, please remain calm. We have resources from all over the world preparing to defend Earth against this new threat. But on the same line of defense, there is also a secret Air Force underground base called Stargate Command. For the past decade, elite forces of men and women have traveled through a ring-shaped device called a stargate. They travel through established wormholes to other planets in search of technology and alliances with other species. We had kept this program a secret, because we feared it would cause international disputes over the use of the stargate. At the moment, we have no choice but to alert you to how massive our situation has become. The stargate was found in Giza in 1928 and has only been operational for the past nine years. We didn't want to reveal this to you unless absolutely necessary, and I believe it is an unfortunate time, but you deserve to know as much as we do, and we are fully preparing for this assault. It is a risk we take trying to obtain knowledge about the universe, but we have made many alliances with advanced species, as well as enemies with others. We have already defeated two races of which are called the Goa'uld and the Replicators, and I have complete confidence that we can survive this one too. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. And now I introduce you to one of our foremost experts of the Stargate, the Head of Home_world_ Security, Major General Jack O'Neill."

Jack, with his spiffy Air Force uniform and all, walked stiffly up to the podium.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I know this is a lot of stuff to take in at once, it was a doozy for me when I first started. I know you have a lot of questions about what is going to happen, but let me tell you something. I once traveled through the stargate on a team called SG-1, and my second in command, as well as everyone at the SGC, are brilliant. They are out there right now, our first line of defense, and I'm here to tell you that there is no need to panic; we've been through worse. Trust me."

A gaggle of reporters started to riot and ask a million questions at a time.

"General, this raises a lot of questionsabout the freedom of the American people. How much information has the government been withholding from the people? Are we being 'ruled' by the government? What deems this information non-accessible by Americans; such information that would decide the fate of the entire world?"

"Oh for crying out loud. I knew one of you would bring that up. I know this sounds alarming, but I assure you, there have been plenty of people, Americans, who have a lot of say in what we have been doing and are still doing at the SGC. The NID for one, it's like the national inquirer department. They keep tabs on all the alien stuff we bring back. In fact, the Americans have always been informed; most just choose not to believe. If one guy were to go around blurting classified information about aliens and how we fight them, would you believe it? And there are a lot of civilians who know about the program, but just aren't authorized to talk about it. It's truly for the safety of everyone. And I know you want to say that it's the program's fault that we're in trouble now, but without the program, they would've destroyed us anyway, and we'd have no way to defend ourselves. They were coming whether we knew about them or not. The program being kept quiet made it easier for us to defend ourselves, while not alarming the public. I'm gonna be blunt about it, that's the way I am, and that's how I've been able to keep my head clean while doing this behind your back. I know what I'm doing is worth something, and that I shouldn't be telling you unless you can contribute a positive attitude about it. Now, I know you're thinking, since I'm telling you about this big secret, the situation must be really bad. Once again, I'm gonna be blunt. It's always bad. It's always one bad over another one. But there are good guys out there who are willing to help us. It's just time you knew."

* * *

A/n: So, what do you think? I know this chapter is a lot of reiteration of how and why the program has been kept quiet, but it needs to be established. That's how it's going to be when the people eventually find out. And just a warning, but there may be a little bit more reiteration about the allies and the enemies in the next chapter, but other than that…there's going to be a major shocker. Thanks for tuning in. Oh, and please feel free to give constructive criticism and suggestions. 


	2. Changes

**A/n: **I am very excited to write this story even though it hasn't received much response. Since I didn't want to bore you with too much reiteration, I've had to condense the broadcast without seeming rushed. And true to my prequel, there is a blog entry. I credit this upcoming plot twist to **devianttart**, thanks so much:) and then from there on out, it just fell into place. I hope you find this chapter more appealing than the previous:)  
**Spoilers**- The Covenant, and potentially from all episodes up to Season 10, but just vaguely.  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own stargate, or Dateline NBC, yada yada yada…  
**Previously: **Due to the Wraith and the Ori's impending attack, the Stargate Program has become public knowledge…

* * *

**In space**- Explosions were coming from every direction. The Ori seemed unfazed while the U.S., Russian, Asgard, Jaffa, and Lucian ships were taking massive hits. Explosions were everywhere coming out of everything. Cameron and Daniel had been flung to the floor and could vaguely remember what happened afterwards. Sam was still in the spacesuit running low on oxygen, and she had possibly just witnessed the deaths of her closest friends. Fortunately, despite of SG-1's reputation of getting into trouble with formidable foes, they also have massive connections to 'the powers that be.' Just before the explosion that would've killed everyone on board both the Odyssey and the Korolev, Oma Desala interfered; she sent everyone to an uninhabited planet with an accessible stargate. She had also sent a fellow ascended being to guide them when they had recovered enough to understand what happened, and decide where to go from there. Even though Oma managed to get them all to a safe place, she couldn't risk doing much more without risking the wrath of the Ancient Council, thus she couldn't just send them straight back to their respective planets. Jaffa were among the people of Earth, as were the Lucians. 

The Ancients, specifically the Alterans, had a creed: to not interfere in lesser species' state of affairs, lest they would not learn from the consequences of their actions and were not wise enough to avoid such circumstances in the first place. Oma was not all against that philosophy, except this situation may have granted an exception. Daniel was dear to her, because he was an ex-ascended being who understood what she fought for, and couldn't tolerate for her punishment hurting countless other lives. Oma couldn't lose him again, and if there were Daniel's friends, they were worth saving too. Despite of all the gifts the Alterans posses, Oma thought it best to have just one person to debrief the world on the cosmic battle ahead; Sam was then personally brought back to the SGC, knowing everything was about to change.

**Back on Earth**- Everyone's eyes were glued to the television.

"Good evening, I'm Stone Philips,"  
"I'm Anne Curry"  
"And you're watching a special broadcast of _Dateline NBC_. Tonight's main story is the revealing of the Stargate Program. Much has been debated and questioned over this issue, and how it affects the American people. It has now become a worldwide issue, especially involving the Russians, who claim that they should have complete access to _their_ stargate, and that we should render its uses to the Russians for a better chance of defending Earth. We will also delve into the mystery personnel behind the Stargate Program, and learn more about our allies, namely the Tok'ra, the Nox, the Asgard, and the Ancients."

The title of the special broadcast is printed in bold white letters across the screen: _The Secret of the Decade Revealed_. A picture of the current SG-1 and General O'Neill appear on the screen above the announcer as he continues to describe their roles in the SGC. A clip of the stargate with its shimmering event horizon is shown and explained. The announcer then proceeded to discuss the allies of Earth, the history behind each culture, and Earth's relationship with them.

"A year ago, a respected man name Alec Colson, laid claims of revealing a secret to the world, and successfully showing the media an image of one of our actual allies called the Asgard. During that time, Mr. Colson had only managed to clone an Asgard, but according to the SGC, the body cannot be considered as a sentient being until one of the Asgard consciousnesses had been downloaded into it. This may all seem a little bizarre, but in simple terms, they basically clone bodies for minds that pass on for generations, and that is how they've accumulated their knowledge and wisdom to create advanced technologies beyond our own." The footage from Colson's reveal of the alien is shown. "And surprisingly enough, they don't look too far off from the little green aliens we preconceived in science fiction."

Sam tuned out the T.V., faced her laptop, and started to type.

"This is my first blog since I got back, and apparently after the whole stargate program going public. To tell you the truth, I'm quite surprised we haven't gone to war with each other yet. The Russians are getting antsy, just as predicted, but it doesn't make sense, not since we've included them on the mission to disable the supergate. They have their own ship, not in a whole piece anymore, but still, it's gotta count for something. I'm also surprised they want the stargate now, especially when it could potentially be the cause of a world war. A symbol of power the stargate may be, but no easy matter to handle with the public. Anyways, I have rarely doubted Jack's decisions and gut instincts, so if he's on board with what the president is doing, then I am too. I can't help but remember my conversation with Alec Colson, granted it was when we were still fighting the Goa'uld, but relevant nonetheless.

_Flashback: _Alec and Sam are sitting on the steps of the inactive stargate on the alpha site. 'You're afraid that knowing about the stargate would fracture the world more than it already is.'

'Yeah, not just stop us fighting the Goa'uld, but end things for good. We've seen it happen on other planets like Earth. In one case, public revelation of the stargate caused an apocalyptic world war.'

'That would be the ultimate irony, wouldn't it? You secretly save the world from destruction at the hands of alien invaders only to destroy ourselves out of fear, after the fact.'

'Change your mind?'

'Not really. I don't think it would happen.' He stands up by the stargate and gestures at it. 'And if a truth of this magnitude, about the very nature of human existence, could lead us to destroy ourselves? Then I'd say we would deserve it. Wouldn't you?'

_End flashback._

I'm just hoping he's right about not destroying ourselves after or before the fact, because either way, it's gonna come to an end pretty soon."

Jack's voice brought her attention back to the T.V. He was sitting opposite of Anne Curry.

"You've probably been asked this question numerous times, but why exactly is the government revealing the stargate secret now, when all chaos may just break loose. They'd automatically be blamed for causing the problem in the first place, and that now, the situation's gotten out of hand."

"Yes, you're right, I've been asked that a lot. And I'll tell you the same thing I tell everyone: 'The logic behind this may seem backwards, but if the situation had truly gotten out of hand, and the world was going to end, wouldn't you want to know about it? If the bad guys, the Ori and Wraith, wanted to destroy you, wouldn't you want to try and at least keep them at bay? It's gonna take everyone's efforts, even if it means admitting to the world that we made a booboo."

A small laugh escaped Anne's mouth.

"Excuse me, but I don't often imagine a Major General of the U.S. Air Force, like yourself, use words like 'booboo.'"

"Well, someone's got to have a sense of humor. Speaking of the United States Air Force, we are the United States. We have a reputation of not giving up and fighting for our country. Well, now's the chance; we're giving you this information so that we can unite and get out of this mess. And what doesn't kill us will make us stronger. So, now that you know about the Stargate, the next time we get into another sort of these messes, the public will know, and the outrage will have already ceased. See, how perfect this backward plan is?"

Anne laughed wholeheartedly and Sam couldn't help but notice how damn handsome he was; sweet-talking the world into loving his plan.

**Ver Isca**- Vala clutched her stomach gasping in pain; the baby was coming and no one was there to help her. She fell to the bed screaming in hopes that someone would hear and help her. Luckily, a woman heard her and gathered supplies to help her give birth, while Vala lay panting on the bed.

The baby was birthed in a matter of minutes and was wrapped in clean cloths. When Vala was coherent enough to realize what had happened, a sudden flood of emotions came over her; pain and fear, but strangely enough, joy and love. She had lived her whole life in tyranny and loneliness, now she felt like she was worth something, worthy enough to bring new life into this world, and the baby was beautiful. As she rocked her baby gently to and fro, she couldn't help but wonder what plans the Ori had for something so innocent. Vala vowed to protect her child from these evils as she planted two small kisses on the baby's forehead. When asked to name her, Vala instinctively knew the child's name should be Adria, yet little did she know of the meaning behind the name. The baby was the Ori's will, and darkness would be Adria's purpose.

**On Some Planet**- Daniel and Teal'c were among the first to recover from the sudden shock of being on an imploding ship in space, to being on solid ground, near a stargate, and surrounded by lush forests. The two also realized that someone who didn't particularly fit in with the dress code, a monk, was standing on the steps of the stargate, waiting patiently with a coy smile. It only took Daniel a second to figure out who had saved them. Perhaps it was a good guess or deductive reasoning, but he certainly had a father's instinct when it came to recognizing that the person before him was Shifu.


	3. The Ori's Will

**A/n: **Sorry about updating so late, but thanks so much to **devianttart, gwsp, **and**Ilovesg1**, for reviewing. And thanks to my alerts: **Chrissy227, 5t4rg4z3r, gwsp, Ilovesg1, samcarter2, selache51**, and **The Minustarian**. It means a lot to me, and it certainly is a deciding factor on how I write this:) I have an outline of where I want this to go, but even if I hurry, the premieres will be here before I finish. Don't forget it's July 14th in the States! Oh, andI also heard that Amanda Tapping will be hosting an hour documentary on how the show has been running for the past decade, woot! Anywho, thanks for listening to my ramblings before the fun begins:)  
**Spoilers: **Just vaguely from Atlantis episode 'Hot Zone.' And as usual, possibly anything up to season 10.  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the stargate franchise.

* * *

**On some planet**- Daniel embraced Shifu as everyone else regained their wits. Teal'c smiled affectionately; it wasn't often a chance to see Daniel happy with someone he loved other than his friends. After a small greeting, Daniel and Teal'c looked around to make sure everyone was alright, and those that were injured were taken care of. It took them a few minutes before realizing someone was missing. 

"Where's Mitchell?"

Nobody knew the answer to that except Shifu.

"Cameron Mitchell has been taken to Judgment."

Teal'c raised his eyebrow, "Does that not mean Colonel Mitchell has died?"

Shifu responded with a knowing smile, "No. He has been taken to the Alteran Council, and he shall be evaluated. From there, they shall determine if you, as a race and species, are worthy enough to survive this coming war."

"What do you mean 'worthy to survive'?" Daniel asked.

Shifu laughed. "I am still too young to answer that question. You will know soon enough."

"Well, are we as a race going to be able to defend ourselves in this judgment?"

"If you know the candle is fire, then your meal has been cooked all along."

"I knew that was coming, but you changed it a little bit this time. It actually makes sense, but not in context of what I asked. You're trying to tell me that, if I knew the outcome all along, the event would've passed as if nothing happened."

Shifu did not answer him.

"No? Ok, let me try again. If we knew what the Ori were capable of, we could also predict the outcome of it by the way it's been done before, because if fire can cook, and we know how to cook, we can predict what will happen when we cook."

Shifu smiled at Daniel's eager attempts, "You have learned much since we last met, but still, not enough."

Daniel sighed, "It was worth a shot."

"But," Shifu interrupted his thoughts, "It is enough for your purposes. Cameron Mitchell will be back soon, and when he returns, you have your chance of defending your race. Remember, you have learned much, but you also must accept what the council has to say." And those last words, Shifu changed into his energy form and glided toward the sky.

**Ver Isca**- Vala slept a few hours after giving birth to Adria, but when she awoke, the sense of dread came over her again; something seemed completely wrong. The infant was quietly sleeping in a crib nearby. Vala kissed her forehead gently as she went into the next room and closed the door. Tomin was out running some errand, so she needed to feel useful too. It was strange living in a world where you were truly the outsider with outside origins, experiences, and beliefs. Vala sat quietly as she activated the Ancient communicator with the stone.

"Hello? SGC base, this is Vala."

Moments later Sam and Dr. Lam were in the room. Apparently, an airman had unknowingly touched the stone, and now Vala was communicating through him.

"Vala, go ahead, this is Sam."

"I just wanted to let you know I just gave birth to a baby girl, and I named her Adria."

"Congratulations."

"Yeah, the problem is, I told you she was the will of the Ori, but I have no clue what to do? Or what she'll do for that matter. Do I just hand her over to them?"

"We've been thinking about it and since we have no clue either, we'd like to run some tests on her."

"How?"

"Well, fortunately for us, an Asgard ship is on its way to your galaxy as we speak. It took a lot of convincing, but they're coming. They have the necessary supplies on their ship to run the tests; all we need is a sample of her blood. It could help us determine what kind of threat she is and her health as well. We'd like to know what kind of situation we may be dealing with while we have the chance. After all, she is only a baby."

"Um, actually about that; Adria seems to be growing particularly fast as she's sleeping."

"How can you tell?"

The sound of wood cracking from the other room confirmed Vala's assumptions.

"Because her crib just broke."

"Oh."

"I've got to go. Vala out."  
----------------------  
Another day passed since Adria's birth and to Vala's concern and amazement, Adria had already aged nine years. Adria had flowing black hair like her mother, but piercing green eyes like her father. She had powder white skin and moved elegantly from room to room, playing her silly game of dance and make-belief.

The Asgard ship had arrived promptly, Vala was 'beamed' aboard with Adria in her arms, and the blood was taken painlessly. That was only a few hours ago, before Adria had turned nine, and was starting to understand her purpose. A few more hours pass by and Adria would be a grown woman soon. Adria was now 17 and Vala had no idea what was in store for her.

It wasn't long before Adria talked an earful to Vala about the glory of the Ori. It was like the entire Origin Book had been downloaded into Adria's memory, and she could quote the Ori off the top of her head, which she did quite often.

"Hallowed are the Ori, and hallowed also are the children of the Ori."

Vala refused to follow her chantings while Adria continued to try and convince her.

"The fact that I was conceived and born is a miracle in itself, and only gods can produce miracles; the Ori are gods. If this doesn't prove to you that the Ori are gods, then…I'll have to prove it to you some other way." She said rather eerily. Then, she started to glow, light emitting and surrounding everything in the room. Everything went black for a moment, and then the room came into view again. Vala looked around and nothing seemed to have moved, except the walls looked worn, the light shining in from outside casted an angelic glow over the atmosphere. Then, Vala heard some kids laughing and playing in the streets. She walked to the door to get a closer look, and on the other side of the street, elderly men and women were playing card games. Everyone seemed happy and peaceful. It was as if Adria read Vala's mind, because at that moment, she started to speak again.

"This is how peaceful the future could be if the Ori are obeyed. They offer a far better tomorrow than resisting will ever bring. You've seen what the Ori can do. Is there not enough proof? Believe in them and they shall restore your faith. 'The power and the greatness of the Ori cannot be denied…those who reject the path to enlightenment must be destroyed.'"

Vala wanted to argue against those statements, but seeing as she thought Adria was kind enough to not kill her on the spot, she merely listened.

"You're my mother, I don't you want you to die. But, understand that those who do not follow the path are evil, and they must be destroyed. Hallowed are we, the loyal followers, hallowed are the Ori."

Vala shuddered involuntarily. Yes, she'd experience first hand what the Ori could do, and like the Goa'uld, the Ori merely use the weak to fight their battles. The Ori were no gods, they may seem to be to ignorant folk, but that was not the people's fault either. The Ori suppressed their intelligence by only feeding them lies, and spreading their side of the half-truths. The Ancients were no enemies, and yes, they believed in freewill to an extreme, to the point where interfering even to save a soul was frowned upon, but there was freewill nonetheless. It was better than being tyrannized by the Ori, who would do anything, mass murder, for their will to be done. And the promise of ascension was just another lie to feed their power-hungry corrupted hearts.

Adria seemed to read Vala's mind again, and sighed; her poor mother was stubborn.

"You'll see in time. I'll show you."

**Back on Earth**- Sam walked into General Landry's office.

"Sir, I've analyzed the blood sample from Adria and there is no sign of nanotechnology that could've been used to age her. It seems likely that her exponential growth is…natural. And as I recall from one of the Atlantis expedition reports, the Lanteans, quite possibly the Ancients themselves, had once used nanotechnology."

"Well Colonel, the report only speculated that the Ancients created the nanites in the underground lab, but the lab itself was kept secret, and no one really knew who it was made for."

"Yes sir, but my point is that even our most advanced allies are still using nanotechnology, whereas from what I can conclude of Adria's growth, have no use of them at all. Everything we've encountered with the Ori only proves they have god-like abilities, and no proof against. And despite of the fact that we know the Ori derive their power through the number of followers, doesn't that just add onto the whole religious aspect of it? I know you don't want to hear this now, but what if the Ori are a form of a god? I'm not saying that they're THE god, but what if everything we ever thought we knew about how a god should act: the benevolence, selflessness, mercy, was all a fabrication? What if this was only created to be a perfect resemblance of what man wishes to be?"

Hank was dumbfounded; he did not need his main SG team leader to start getting philosophical and doubting the Ori's falsehood.

"The Ori are not gods, because despite of however many things we can't prove against them…" Hank sighed as he tried to get his words straight, "Does it seem like a god, especially the Ori who love to pretend to show power and almighty glory, to not just wipe out every nonbeliever? Aren't they supposed to be omnipotent? I mean, they still have to use a supergate to get here, couldn't they just have…appeared? That alone shows us they're not as almighty as they wish to be perceived. They didn't even know about us until, through no fault of your own, we found the freaking stone. There are so many flaws within their actions; they may seem powerful because they managed to create a supergate and an energy force field, but heck, they still need those things to protect themselves. What kind of god can't protect himself by merely being? False gods! Now, there are cracks in their plans, we just have to wedge into those cracks, plant some C-4, and blow them to Hell!"

Silence enveloped the briefing room after Hank's outburst. Jack was very amused.

"Right, so basically, if the Ori are not true gods, then they must have a weakness, and we just have to find out what that is."

"Yes, that's exactly what I just said."

"Ok."

"Dismissed."

Jack and Sam were now alone in the briefing room seated across from each other.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the mission. I just didn't want to…"

"It's alright. I understand. Besides, that way, I _have _to read the mission reports."

They smiled at each other again in silence and knew everything was right between them. At least something was right in the universe…

* * *

**A/n:** sorry, there wasn't much Jack/Sam in this chapter, but there was a lot of stuff to add in. But, the shippers will definitely like the ending of this fic…totally Jack/Sam:). Oh, and if you'd like to catch a glimpse of a clue of what's in store for Jack/Sam, visit my homepage and look for the What's Next icon. It should be under 'fanfiction updates.' Oh, and one more thing…I have a question to those who have kindly read this so far…do you think I should continue writing and updating each week, or just take the whole thing off and finish it? Please give any comments or concerns. Thanks:) 


	4. Meet the Furlings

**A/n:** Sorry for taking so long, as you can see, this chapter is quite long. My internet had been acting up, but I hope you like it anyway. Hi, and thanks for tuning in today. I realize the season premiere has come and gone, and I have yet to watch it. I'd just like to remind everyone that this story is based on season 10, so there are bound to be things that I must follow with the show's intended storyline, but this is also my view on how it happened, so there will be differences. I don't know how much longer I should drag this story along, but I will definitely finish it, even if no one reads:)

**Spoilers**: SG-1-Absolute Power, Frozen, Moebius. SGA-Sanctuary, Before I Sleep. A lot of allusions, and some from Season 10, but you wouldn't know it unless I told you, so it shouldn't be a problem.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own any of the stargate franchise.

* * *

**On some planet**- Cameron Mitchell was unconscious lying in the middle of a white room, surrounded by Ancients.

"Where do you suppose we should begin?" One of the Ancients asked.

"We already know their past, present, and we're trying to determine their future. Perhaps we should look into what they think of us and how their future would be like?" Another one answered.

"That is very wise; we shall begin."  
--  
Cameron woke up bathed in white light. '_Where the hell am I?'_ was his first thought. His second thought was, '_have I died and gone to heaven?_'

There were no chorus of angels welcoming him in or a God's booming voice ushering him into judgment, there was only silence. Suddenly, the white room transformed into a beautiful park. Lush trees were everywhere and the stargate was in the distance. Kids were running around while parents watched them from a picnic table. Although everything seemed perfect, the stargate seemed to be public property now, and not functional. It stood merely as an ornament of the past. As Cameron walked closer to inspect the validity of the stargate, he realized it was just a replica made of stone, and he sighed.

The Ancients observed from afar and realized that the stargate meant more than just a ring of metal to the human; it symbolized potential peace and a way of life, a duty to safeguard those precious freedoms of life.

Cameron fell unconscious again as the Ancients agreed that that simple glimpse of the future alone was indeed a possibility of what the future may be if they survived this battle. This alone was worth discussing with the humans themselves.

Shifu came back to the planet to usher Daniel and Teal'c into the next plane of existence. The other nations of races were not needed at this meeting, because it wasn't their planet at stake; they had already proven their worth in the galaxy. The humans were a little more on the naïve side of things, especially since their evolution occurred so late. The humans were also the descendants of the Ancients, so they were very interesting to learn about.

"The Alteran Council has agreed to meet briefly with you." Shifu stated. "Remember that you have learned much; just show them that you have and your call for help will be heeded."

Daniel and Teal'c were lead into a building much like the one from Tollana, where Minister Travell had the case with Skaara versus Klorel. The walls were shimmering with translucent colors, almost like a shimmering glow of glitter on white walls. There was an elevated platform where a long table stood. In front and below was a similar table where the other people would sit. It reminded them of a courtroom, and as Cameron joined them, they knew they had been put on trial.

"You may present your case." Melia stated.

"Uh," Daniel started, "We would like your assistance concerning a race called the Ori. And since technically they are a form of Ancients, we'd like to know how to deal with them."

Melia gave him a stern look. "Yes, the Alterans and the Ori are of the same race, The Ancients, but we merely disagree on the viewpoint of life. If such a seemingly intangible item could separate an ancient a race as us, do you think, humans of the Earth who are still in the throws of intraspecies chaos, could survive an age-long battle? Do you think, if we knew how to deal with the Ori, we would have dealt with them by now?"

Daniel was speechless, so Teal'c decided to speak up.

"You have requested our presence. We did not expect that you would assist us in this battle with the Ori. Dr. Jackson was an ascended being for some time and he remembers quite well what you are capable of, but this does not mean that you are not capable of something you have not discovered thus far."

"Nicely spoken Teal'c." Janus said and smiled. "Let us introduced ourselves and begin from there. I'm afraid Melia is a traditionalist and would rather this meeting end quickly."

Janus received a glare from Melia as he introduced himself.

"I am Janus. You may have heard of me, if my calculations are correct, from Ms. Elizabeth Weir. Did you happen to find the puddle jumper with the modifications on it? I haven't been keeping track of my inventions."

"Yes, actually, we found it on some planet, and we managed to figure it out to travel back in time to a Giza with a working ZPM. We also…"

Melia cut him off before he could continue. "Dr. Jackson, we know what you've done. I'm Melia, as Janus so nicely established, and you can probably sense that I am impatient, and that meeting with you was not my idea."

Another council member spoke up, "I'm Ayiana. It's so very nice to see you again. I didn't actually meet the three of you in person, but Jonas and Samantha Carter uncovered me from the ice in the Ancient outpost. I'm sorry I couldn't say anything while I was there; I was unaware that I had been frozen for so long. I meant to ascend with my people when the plague hit us, but I stayed back to warn the others. I'm glad I did." She smiled warmly. "And this is Chaya, also known as Athar." Ayiana gestured to the person sitting next to her. "You may have also heard of her from the Atlantis expedition. We are also missing a council member, but he will be back soon."

Cameron spoke up for the first time. "Nice to meet ya folks, but let's cut to the chase. You've probed my mind, and you know that we really want to prove ourselves, but even the smartest people need help sometimes. I'm not even sure why you asked us to discuss this with you. I mean, I'm very grateful that you got us out of that mess, but you saved us for a reason, there must be something else you need from us. We can't as hell destroy the Ori yet, but you can't either. Do you want us to convince you that we could destroy them, and that all the responsibility was on our shoulders instead of yours?"

"What makes you think we can't destroy them?" Melia asked.

"You said earlier that if you could have dealt with them, you would have already."

"Yes, but you are forgetting one major thing: we do no interfere with the freewill of lesser species. So you see, you are trying to convince us if you are worthy for us to deal with."

"Melia!" interjected Ayiana, "You're bordering on rude. Please forgive Melia, but we are indeed trying to determine whether or not you are capable of wise decisions. We realize that you did stumbled upon the Ori accidentally, and that shows you are not very careful, but we also know that human nature is precocious and persistent. We need to know if you are responsible and astute enough to keep and hold great power without destroying yourselves."

Then, something dawned on Daniel. "You're referring to absolute power. You don't have it, but you have enough of it to hand around. Shifu once showed me that I was capable of blowing up a city just to prove a point. The amount of power I had is nothing compared to what you are offering to give us, IF, we are worthy."

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely. You, Dr. Jackson, have just gained a little bit more trust from us." Chaya announced. "But that doesn't mean we will just hand this power over."

"We are honored that you have considered us worthy enough of your time." Teal'c bowed his head. But as the men of SG-1 were heading out of the room, an argument broke out between Ayiana and Melia.

"Times have changed, Melia! Mankind has evolved…"

"Into what! Power-hungry, machine wielding, lazy geniuses? What has changed since we last saved them?"

A look of shock graced everyone's face: the shock from the other council members for Melia having revealed the secret, and the shock of the humans who couldn't believe their ears. Did an Alteran council member just admit to have interfered in the humans' survival?

Melia thought it was time to reveal the truth, so she started to speak.

"We were afraid that if you knew that we had interfered before, you would expect us to interfere again. When the Goa'uld were still powerful, we had sped up the evolution of man so that they may survive the Ice Age and become civilized again. Because some of the Ancients descended on their way to Earth, we had no choice but to erase their memories of any kind of civilization beyond Earth, but we also managed to keep Earth a secret from the Goa'uld. They assumed that the planet was uninhabitable. Thus, you survived."

Daniel needed to speak his mind, just like his outburst in the Ascended Café.

"So, you've saved us about 2 or 3 times, you evolved us, and you're wondering whether we're dependable, sensible enough to handle your powers?"

"Perhaps we are." Melia admitted ashamed.

Daniel was starting to feel guilty and sighed, "It's alright to question sometimes, but don't doubt. You've kept the universe running with minimum chaos, and that's saying something. You've helped countless people, me included, realize that knowing true self is more important than any physical attribute. Don't come to us arguing about worth and then not know that no matter what, both good and bad consequences are bound to result from one event. If you think evolving mankind was a bad decision and are now trying to see if we're more civilized, then you've realized, by now, we are so much more than that."

As silence consumed the room, the Alteran Council knew Daniel was right. Janus and Ayiana were beaming, glad that the humans had pulled through as predicted. Chaya and Melia sat still thinking that the humans had finally proven greater value and could handle, but more important, deserve the truth and the power that came along with it.

"Alright." Melia started. "The ones who can truly help you are the Furlings, but you must convince them what you have convinced us today. There is a weapon you are seeking created by the one called Merlin. The weapon is unattainable for a reason, because it does not exist. The legends of your King Arthur will do you no good, because they are merely folktales to drive you away from the truth. The one you must find has been among you for some time, most recently in the Ori galaxy. You do not like this person, but she is the key. Find her and you will find the Furlings."

**Ver Isca**- The evening of Adria's birth, Tomin came home and practically fawned over her. Vala realized how much honor Tomin must feel in helping the will of the Ori come true. Ever since Tomin's accident, Vala had genuinely tried to comfort and sympathize in his wishes. But, now that the battle between good and evil gained momentum, Vala didn't know where love would fit into all of it. Quite possibly her love for Tomin and Adria, despite that they wanted the Ori to conquer the worlds. Soon, Vala would get her answers.

Adria, as a 20-year-old grown woman, Tomin, and Vala had their first dinner as a family. During dinner, Tomin received some urgent news from one of the townsfolk. He returned within a few minutes with shocking information.

"The Ori, hallowed are they, have decided not to invade the Milky Way Galaxy. Oh, they are merciful gods. Do you see my love?"

"Yes, Tomin." Vala lied. "But where have they gone then?"

"The have decided to spread their light to surrounding galaxies so that they may have the chance for freedom before the day of reckoning comes."

Vala sighed in resignation. Later that night, Adria and Vala had a personal talk in the moonlight on the outskirts of the town.

"Do you know what the Ori have planned?" Vala asked without tact. "Are you an Ori too? There are so many unanswered questions."

"I am the will of the Ori; they bestow onto me all their knowledge and power. I am grown now, and the Ori have plans for me. I learn something new every second, and soon I will be able to fulfill my duties, and be glorified by joining them as ascended beings."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I will ascend and in those higher planes of existence, I can actually do what I was born to do."

"And what is that?"

"I don't know yet, but I have a feeling I've been given the utmost honor. I'll know what to do only when the time comes."  
----  
Deep slumber filled the house as Vala sneaked into the backyard of her house. She took the Ancient communication device with her into the forest and prayed that no one would find out.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me? This is Vala." She whispered and waited.

Sam walked in with Dr. Lam in tow. Carolyn checked the pulse of the airman whom Vala was communicating through, while Sam proceeded to talk.

"Hey Vala. You're lucky we just caught you. We were just about to leave when an airman started to act strange. We hadn't expected to hear from you so often. How are you and Adria doing? Do you have anymore news?"

Adria's approximately 20 years old now, and she's been spouting Ori revelations since she was 9."

"Well, we discovered no aging technology in her bloodstream, so she's completely healthy, but even with the Ori's standards, Adria's a pretty advanced leap."

"Well, you don't have to worry about the Ori just yet. I heard that they decided to travel to surrounding galaxies first, converting more people…" Vala abruptly stopped thinking she heard a distant noise coming from her house.

"I've got to go, Vala out."

Sam shut off the computer interface as the airman regained his composure.

Vala stealthily sneaked back into her home only to find Adria was waiting for her at the kitchen table.

"Oh hello. I was just taking a walk outside. I couldn't sleep. How 'bout you?" Vala feigned innocence and prayed to some other god that she wasn't caught.

"Stop lying."

Vala sighed once again. "Fine. What do you want me to say? That I never believed in the Ori, that I love you as my daughter, not as some great being to be worshiped? That I wish I could believe you when you say they'll help me ascend and join them in paradise? I can't. So, why don't you stop lying, and tell me about the Ori's plans."

"Mother, you shouldn't say such things! The Ori gave you a second chance to redeem yourself, but you threw it away. Why!" Adria calmed herself before continuing. "It was never their intentions to attack your friends' world. They weren't headed for Earth; they were headed to their surrounding galaxies to gather followers so that the Ori may grow in strength and numbers, and then destroy the others who aid Earth in defiance. All nonbelievers must be destroyed. Now, I must take you to the circle of fire for judgment."

"What? No!"

Adria dragged Vala into the streets, kicking and screaming, yet nobody heard her.

"Because you are first and foremost my mother, I will not burn you alive as you deserve, and I will save you the shame accompanied by your actions, but I cannot let this continue. You must be cleansed and I must send you away. Goodbye Vala."

Adria spoke with little emotion as they started to glow. Vala vanished in the blaze of light, and Adria went home as if nothing happened. The next morning, Adria had everyone believe that Vala had ascended. Despite the fact that Adria was the essence of the Ori, she was also everything the Ori could not be. Because of this, she was the perfect figure to lead the Ori's followers. Adria's beauty would outshine the Priors' dignified appearance, and show what true beauty lays ahead for those who worship the Ori. Adria was a weapon of her own accord.

**In some plane of existence**- Vala surveyed her surroundings, which consisted of endless white on all sides, even the invisible ground she was standing on. Then, a figure emerged from nowhere and started towards her.

"Uh, who are you?"

"I am Merlin, and as yet unknown, am also half Furling, half Ancient; an ascended Furling if you will."

"You're _the _Merlin? The one that everyone has been talking about? That means you're the one who created the weapon who could destroy the Ori. Do you have the weapon?"

"We are the weapon."

"Excuse me?"

"You know that in the legends of Merlin on Earth, people always had me paired with an owl." Merlin stated avoiding Vala's questions. "Sometime between my younger and older years, I was the owl. I decided that being a human was overrated. I enjoyed spreading my ways, quite literally. I always felt that owls were wise. True that they are, yet humans treat animals as if they are a lesser species. In fact, the irony is that humans don't know half as much as they think they do. My image as an owl changed over time of course, to keep suspicion from rising. People would say, 'why has that owl outlived my grandfather?' So, I had to change. Change is good some of the times."

"Is that why you were named the Furlings then, because you preferred animals?"

"Yes, if that satisfies your need for an explanation. Why must you take the fun out of things? Why must you analyze and categorize everything? Why not just let fate take you where you ought to be? The journey is more important than the destination; it isn't just a saying, it's a philosophy. Try it sometime." Merlin smiled.

"Are you the Fates then?"

Merlin sighed, "If that satisfies your need to name me."

"But, you've already named yourselves the Furlings…" Vala countered in confusion and growing frustration.

"Yes, well, don't forget we can be many things."

"Well, are you or aren't you?"

"We are who we _choose_ to be and _how_ we choose to live. We are _not_ and _cannot_ possibly be contained in _what_ we are. For example, I am half Ancient, half Furling, but that doesn't stop me from being a Nox, from being invisible and peaceful beings. I can choose to be a hermit crab; I can _choose_ to be whatever I want. It's the choices you make that create who you are, anything else is…a guideline. Who needs to follow rules?"

"What about your Ancient half? Doesn't it dictate you to follow the rules of non-intervention?"

"Pishposh. The way I see it, they're not rules, they're a way of life. Ancients, specifically the Alterans, just don't interfere. Oma's an ascended being and she interferes."

"But if there aren't any rules, why was Oma punished for having interfered?"

"She wasn't punished for breaking the rules, she was disliked by a few for her decisions to interfere, which lead to a far greater consequence namely Anubis."

"You're confusing me."

"I know. That's why I don't do this often. And now, I'm going to offer you a chance of a lifetime; a chance for another lifetime."

"Stop being cryptic."

"Ok, if I let you live, you can't remember anything from your previous life. You'll start from scratch. You'll be a grown woman, but you won't remember who you were or how you came to be."

"Can I skip that part and jump straight to being rich and famous?"

"No." Merlin spoke sternly. "This isn't a game. I'm offering you this because of your friends. When they find you again, you may still help them in some way."

"But how? I won't remember anything."

"Guidelines my dear, guidelines."

And with those final words, Merlin pushed Vala into the next plane of existence known as Terra Firma.

**Wraith Hiveship**- One of the main leaders of the Wraith hiveship was getting angry and demanded to know what was going on.

"How many of these humans did we bring along? Why is it so hard to find food these days? What happened to those planets we passed by earlier, didn't we find something?"

"My lord," one of the masked wraith said, "food has been scarce, because the humans who have occupied Atlantis have evacuated most of them to other unknown places."

"And why haven't we found them yet?"

"Forgive me, my lord. According to your plans, we have headed straight for Earth that will provide a plentiful food source."

"Well, I'm afraid I'm hungry, and I find that feeling distasteful." Without warning, the leader pinned the masked wraith to the wall.

"You'll be my supper in the meantime." He growled and drained the helpless wraith of his life.

After a few minutes, the wraith was dead, and the leader gave orders to change course.

"We're running low on food. Unless any of you want me to take you as my next meal, I suggest you find another suitable planet to feed on."

When they found a decent inhabited planet, and terrorized the towns, they had a feast. Little did they know that they had walked into a trap set by the Ori.

Back on Earth-The public was immediately alerted by the media concerning the events that had occurred in the last few days. Panic was quickly consumed by fear, but now, hope seemed to shine over the world. In light of these recent events, Jack decided to take a day off in saving the world and went to visit Sam in Colorado Springs. In the briefing room, they were discussing with Hank Landry, in greater details of how the Ori and Wraith had both managed not to attack as planned. 

"So let me get this straight," General Landry said to Jack and Sam, "The Ori have decided to leave us alone for a little longer so that they can convert more people, which consequently gives them more power."

"Yes, that would be a reason, but I spoke to Vala last night, and even though she couldn't exactly say much, she said they had greater plans dealing with Adria."

"Let's try and deal with one thing at a time. What about the Wraith? What exactly happened?"

"Well, the Ori are good for one thing only, and that is not liking to sharing power over the universe. Apparently, one of the Tok'ra operatives were scheduled to leave a planet called Marin the morning the Wraith arrived. According to Tok'ra intelligence, one of the villages was suffering from a plague brought upon them by the Ori, and the unsuspecting Wraith thought the non-fleeing villagers as an easy meal. The Wraith are supposedly able to sense disease in a person, but the Ori are quite advanced; the Wraith didn't know what hit them. Even their incredible ability to regenerate cells couldn't adapt to the plague and it wiped the majority of them out. Other Tok'ra operatives in surrounding planets blew up the rest of the Wraith that remained on the hiveship."

"Good riddance," Jack said with a smile.

"Well, that's good news. Dismissed. Oh, and Colonel Carter, take a break." General Landry said with a genuine look of relief and joy.

"I will sir, thank you. You too." Sam beamed.

Later that night, Jack and Sam had a nice little date and spent the rest of their evening together. Jack wanted to spend as much time with Sam as possible, so he stayed over at her house. While Jack was in the shower, Sam decided to update her MySpace account.

**Sam's blog**  
**10 Random Facts to Lighten the Mood**

1. Gray people rule!

2. 'Retirement' is a loaded word, as well as 'fishing,' and 'zatarc.'

3. A friend of mine can decipher multiple languages, but manages to misread the label on his macaroni and cheese recipe…let's just say that the room will never be the same color again.

4. The band is back together, but all we've managed to perform these days are 'BOOM,' 'aahhh,' and 'sonofabeeeeep.'

5. Fanfiction has become a great security risk, especially concerning SGC personnel relationships.

6. Have you ever seen the ceiling of the briefing room? A close friend of mine has…he often falls asleep staring at it.

7. Another friend of mine has given new meaning to the phrase 'dude, look at your hair'.

8. Gel is an essential part of the Atlantis expedition.

9. Memos mean different things for different people. To me, they stand for 'Making explosive machinery oscillate smoothly,' which translates to me blowing up a sun.

10. I had a dream about reversing the polarity of something…and it actually worked…must send Star Trek producers a memo.

**Jack's comment-** Carter, only you would ever dream about reversing polarities, and hey, no fair, you're making fun of us, but there's nothing incriminating about you on this. I could tell a few:) See ya in the next room:)  
Love always,  
_Jack O'Neill  
_-----  
Jack walked into the living room smelling like fresh rain and soap. He came in with his laptop and sat next to Sam with hers.

"Watcha doing?" he drawled.

"Just sending you a memo."

"Hm, really? What does it say?"

"Meet me in the bedroom."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Now, does it? Well, I'll have to send you a memo too."

"Uhuh, and what does it say?"

"I'll see ya there."

"Good."

They smiled knowingly at each and headed for the bedroom.

**A/n**: In allusion and dedicated to **Annerb **for writing 'Out of Context.' Read it sometime.

I really had a dream about reversing the polarity on the electrons of some metal to produce more energy. I don't think many people would've recognized this allusion. This idea came to me, because in the 'Wormholes Extreme' commentary by Peter DeLuise, he said that Star Trek always tried to reverse the polarity, but it never worked. It would be appropriate that Sam could think of something, because she's extremely intelligent.

Oh, and the 'intraspecies chaos' is an allusion to Sikozu's speech in Farscape's episode, 'A Constellation of Doubt.'

Well, I hope you liked the chapter. Please review, thanks, and have a wonderful day/summer:)

'It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we're alive-release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes from living behind a façade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.' Elizabeth Kubler Ross


	5. Surprises!

**A/n**: Hey, thanks to everyone who has stuck with me, and huge apology for taking so long to write this chapter. My second semester in college is over! And yes, I do realize that the series is officially over, but I said I would finish this, and I will:) Also, I might've posted this before, but this is the edited and extended version. Anyways, here's a big shout out to **devianttart, x-izzles-x** and **Su Freund**!**Spoilers**: Anything from S10, and sorry if I didn't notice anything else.  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own stargate, although I wish I had, because then, I could force the writers to write some shippy moments:)

* * *

**Recap- **Daniel, Teal'c and Cameron just finished talking to the Alteran Council and they might be willing to dish out some helpful info against the Ori. Earth received intelligence from Tok'ra that the Wraith have been virtually wiped out by plague from Ori. Jack and Sam's relationship is growing. Vala met Merlin and we find out he's half Furling/Ancient. And now… 

**Higher Plane of Existence**- Daniel, Teal'c, and Cameron were headed back for the planet knowing that they had a possible solution to the Ori problem. They didn't know that the Ori had changed their mind, or that the Wraith were practically wiped out, but help was on the way. Janus informed them, as they left, that they would need to stay in the higher plane of existence for a few more hours so that the council could determine what other helpful information they could divulge without greatly 'interfering.' In the meantime, Daniel, Teal'c and Cameron, were given quarters in the little town of Higher Existence nearby.

Daniel, being the archaeologist that he is, decided to explore it. Teal'c and Cameron had nothing else to do so they followed suit. Even though Daniel had been an ascended being, he rarely had a chance to 'settle in' as he had liked to. Daniel always imagined that a higher plane of existence meant he could help more people; he was sadly taught otherwise.

Daniel was wiping his glasses on his sleeve and walking aimlessly through the streets of a tiny marketplace, when he bumped into a woman with long brown hair. Before he had time to readjust his glasses and apologize profusely to the woman, a set of arms wrapped themselves around him. Daniel tried to look to Cameron and Teal'c for answers; Cameron was confused, but Teal'c had a sure smile on his face.

When the arms let him go, he took a step back. Right in front of his disbelieving eyes were Janet and Skaara.

"Daniel?" Janet asked. They hadn't seen each other in a few years. The arms that had Daniel in a hug were definitely the ones of the sure and jubilant Skaara.

Daniel quickly pulled Janet into a loving hug, almost in tears to see his friend again.

There were also so many questions running through his head. Had she met Shifu and did she raise him, how come she never visited? How and when did she ascend? Why didn't the Alterans, Oma, tell him? All these questions were evident in his eyes as Janet reassured him that he would get his answers as soon as she led him to her house and had a nice long chat with him.

Skaara and Janet lived next to each other in what could only be described as adobe-hut like houses. They said they built it as a reminder of Abydos. Everyone was headed to Janet's 'house,' while introductions were being exchanged.

Cameron Mitchell extended his hand to greet Skaara, while Janet was getting brunch. "Hi, I'm Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell. Nice to meet you folks."

"What of O'Neir?" Skaara asked with concern. "He is dead?"

"Oh no, he just got an office job."

"Oh." Skaara responded, not quite sure what that was.

"And this is Teal'c. I think you might remember him." Daniel said to Skaara, who nodded.

Teal'c bowed his head and spoke, "It is great to see you Dr. Frasier. We have missed your company among us."

"So, have you been caught up with what we've been doing? What have you been doing? Did you know that the Goa'uld are no longer a threat?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, we have been here for a while and we are informed periodically on the condition of the outside world. As you can see, we have quite a humble community, and wish for little disturbance, but ignorance is also not necessary."

"So, tell me about this life." Daniel was antsy to ask more questions. "Have you met Shifu?"

Janet smiled feeling warmth of recognition in Daniel's ever-curious mind. "I didn't except this many people, but the Abydonians have treated me like family. I think Skaara was the first person to approach me. He also told me that Sha're and Kasuf are sadly not here; they both moved on before anyone could intervene for their ascension. The second person to approach me was Oma Desala. She was training Shifu at the time, and still is. He lives with the other monks, but visits us frequently. Daniel, I have to say, he's such a curious and gentle person; kind of reminds me of someone I know." She said with a wink.

Daniel smiled and gave her another hug and stifled a nervous laugh, "Gosh, after all this, I shouldn't be surprised you're even here."

Janet laughed. "I know right?"

"Hi, I don't think I properly introduced myself. I'm Janet Frasier." Janet said while extending her hand to Cameron's.

"Ah yes, the infamous Doc Frasier. I heard about your big needles and other wild antics."

"Aw, don't listen to Jack. Which reminds me, where is he? And Sam? Did those two elope?"

Daniel laughed. "Jack got promoted. He's a General now. And Sam too, she's a Lt. Colonel. And no, they didn't elope. Jack is head of Homeworld Security, and Sam's manning SG-1."

Cameron coughed in response so Daniel corrected himself. "Sorry, Cam is co-leading."

Janet smiled. "Well, it's about time they got promoted. But I still would like them to elope."

"Indeed."

**Earth**- Vala stumbled onto the highway near the Cheyenne Mountain Complex; she had no idea where she came from or who she was. She had a feeling that she once did know who she was, but everything was still blurry. As Vala wandered along the highway, walking towards the SGC, a truck slowed to her side. It was Jack O'Neill. He looked at her oddly, assumably seeking answers as to why she was there at all.

"Hey Vala, what are you doing outside of the SGC without supervision? Did Landry authorize this? It doesn't seem like you got very far if you were trying to escape." He said flippantly.

"Um, I'm not sure who you are or who I am for that matter, but you seem to know, so can I hitch a ride with you?"

"Oy, come on." Jack was so used to this stuff by now.

In the SGC briefing room, Vala was vaguely starting to remember certain things, like actually being called Vala and knowing a buff geek named Daniel. She also had a feeling that Earth wasn't truly her planet, and that the 'truth' was out there. Each corridor in the complex triggered more memories. In practically no time, Vala was back to her old self. But the other shoe would fall very soon.

Sam, Jack, and Hank were sitting stunned in their seats around the briefing table, when a shimmering glow slowly emerged from thin air, and Merlin appeared.

Vala smiled smugly. "I should've known you'd drop by. And I must say that you made it quite easy for me to find the SGC."

"Guidelines, my dear, guidelines." He said before turning to face the others.

"Hello, I'm Merlin, and I am here to interfere."

Then, he launched into a spiel about the Furlings, giving them as much information as they could handle.

"The Furlings are also energy, possess the ability to manipulate time and fate, influence rational thinking, and take any form they wish. Their ability to influence peaceful reasoning helped them create the Utopian society that Maybourne and Jack stumbled upon, but it wasn't exactly void of possible threats from the outside world. And the Furling's ability to take any form explains why their writings on the 'meeting room' where Ernest Littlefield was found resembled Aztec and Mayan language. I admit the Furlings aren't as all-powerful as they are advertised, but they are a race to reckon with, because they have gathered all possible knowledge through time, and with it the wisdom to stay levelheaded. After all, knowledge is power, and how we wield this power takes great wisdom. And with this knowledge, they have a possible solution to the Ori infestation."

**Later in the day**- Hank told everyone to leave the base for the night, because he knew that soon he would need everyone well rested to take on the Ori 'infestation.' Jack actually had something already planned for his night alone with Sam. Jack drove to Sam's place to pick her up around 5pm. He got there and she was already ready, prompt as usual. Jack took out a piece of black cloth and held it out to Sam.

"Is that necessary?" Sam asked while putting the blindfold on.

"Of course it is. Now, no peeking."

Jack drove until he reached the spot where they had their first date. It was a secluded area of a residential park. There in the distant clearing of trees was a small pond lit by the setting sun, and underneath a grand willow tree was a picnic set for two. Sam smiled at the memory of their first date.

"I remember this. We didn't eat a bite of the food. Did you put actual food in the basket this time?"

"Define 'actual food.'"

Sam gave him a look, but couldn't resist smiling that smile that he believed she reserved only for him.

"No. There's coffee, chicken, and cheesecake."

"That's an interesting combination."

"Yes, for an exceptionally-interesting-out-of-this-world lady."

For the next hour, they enjoyed eating and drinking, while watching the sunset. Sam had brought a shawl in case it got chilly. Jack noticed the change in temperature and sat forward to reach behind Sam to wrap the shawl around her shoulders.

"Thanks." She couldn't believe, even after all those years, that he could know her so intuitively, and she would like to say that she knew everything about him too, but what happened next was certainly not expected.

"Sam, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

Jack produced a velvet box from the picnic basket and took the ring in his fingers. He got on bended knee and looked into her eyes.

"Sam, you know how I am with speeches, and you know about my trick knee, so I'll try to make this quick." Sam merely sat in disbelief.  
"Samantha Carter, you are my own personal black hole; you are everything to me. And lately, I've only started to realize I can't survive, well not lately, for awhile, but that uh, I can't live a day without you." Jack paused here to keep his heart from jumping out of his chest.  
"Do you remember 4 years ago when we had agreed to keep it all in the room forever? Well, I don't want to keep it locked up anymore; I want to scream to the whole wide world that I love you! I can't imagine a future without you. So how about it, Sam? Will you marry me?"

Sam was speechless, but in the end, she always knew her answer would be, "yes."

Before she could do anything else, like jumping Jack O'Neill, her future husband, both of their cell phones rang. They didn't even have to look at the caller ID to know it was the SGC. The world was in peril, again.

**SGC**- Walter ran frantically into General Landry's office.

"Sir," he said out of breath. "We just got a confirmed message that a full battle contingent of Ori ships was seen go through the Supergate, and they seem to be headed towards Earth."

Hank had the 'dare I ask if this could get any worse' face on.

"How many ships are in a full battle contingent?"

Walter winced. "So far, 10."

"Damn," he cursed under his breath. They had trouble taking down one or two ships, but five times that?

"How long before they reach a range of attack?"

"At maximum speed, 24 hours.

**Higher Plane of Existence- **Janet, Skaara, Shifu, Daniel, Teal'c and Cameron spent the night at Janet's house and had a lovely dinner. Afterwards, Daniel and Janet went for a walk to talk about what had happened in their personal lives in the years they were apart, things they couldn't really talk about in front of everyone else.

Daniel wanted so much just to hug Janet and never let her go, but he knew that it had been an unspoken relationship, what they had. Janet, sensing this, spoke first.

"Daniel, I've been watching over you. I know what's been going on in your life, and sometimes, I'm sad, because you are alone, and I can't stand for you to be alone."

"Then maybe," Daniel started timidly, "you'd like to come back with me?" Daniel looked at her hopefully.

Janet gave him a sad smile saying that she had moved on, but not the way he thought.

"I love you Daniel, so much. But my place is here. I couldn't do much to make a difference…and well, you have Dr. Lam now, and I have moved on to this plane of existence. I am under the wing of Oma and will help others achieve their greater goals."

"You made so much of a difference at the SGC. There were so many things only you could solve, and we needed you. And damn, I was here, I was so close to you and they never let me know."

"You were busy, you couldn't have known; I knew you wouldn't have let that stop you sometimes, but…." She said sadly.

"I'm glad they let me see you, because at least now I know, you are in a better place, and doing more good than I could do in a lifetime." He smiled with pride and joy.

"Maybe someday, I could convince you to come back?" Daniel prayed in desperation.

Janet didn't say anything to ruin his optimism, what she loved most about him.

They merely continued to walk through the empty streets, hand in hand, and heart with soul.

**Janet's living room, later**- Teal'c sat kelnoreeming in the empty space and dim light.

Janet walked by to head to bed when Teal'c opened his eyes.

"Are you retiring so soon Janet Frasier?"

"I am. I have to wake up early tomorrow to visit some villagers a few miles away. I am still a doctor wherever I go." She said with a short laugh.

"Will you be bidding DanielJackson farewell tomorrow morning as well?"

Janet sensed there was a hint of something deeper in his question, but then again, the Jaffa was more observant than most.

Janet smiled, "No, we talked earlier, and he knows. He asked me to come back to Earth, and I was definitely tempted, but you know I can help more people here. You might think ascended beings don't get injured, but they do. And I know it might be a lame excuse, because going back to Earth would mean I could help with a lot more diseases, but I don't know. I admit I like it here. Just say hello for me. I'll always be watching over you. We all will." Janet said with a nostalgic smile and gave Teal'c a hug.

"You have no need to justify not returning to Earth, because your life is the choices you make, and your choices have helped others, and in the end, that is all that matters." Teal'c said with understanding and a small grin showing he was not upset with Janet's decision.

"Thanks Teal'c. You always made me feel safe. Goodnight."

**SGC-** An hour after the General had received word about the Ori arriving, Jack and Sam were back at the SGC along with the chief of staffs, among other military leaders of the world. The worldwide defense system would have to take action fast. They only had the ZMP-powered Ancient device in Antarctica that no one was sure if it still worked, and it seemed hopeless again. While the military personnel were arguing among themselves, a bright light enveloped them and Merlin appeared, along with Daniel, Teal'c, and Cameron.

"It's about time," Jack yelled across the room.

Daniel, Teal'c, and Cameron looked at the man next them, looked at each other, and then back at Merlin again.

"Hi guys," Daniel said, "who's this?"

"That's Merlin, Daniel. The guy you've been dreaming to meet."

"Oh." Daniel then turns to Merlin and says, "It's really nice to meet you. Um, how did you know where we were?"

"I was the missing council member from your 'trial.' And I was on my way here, I decided to take on some passengers." Merlin said with a smile and then turned to the rest of the room.

"Greetings, the military leaders of this world. I am Merlin, also known as Myros or Myrdid. I'm sure you've heard about me. As Vala has told you, I am half Furling, half Ancient. I have conferred with the other Alteran council members and they shall offer help. Do you recall when you used the frequency to, as you would say, "jam" the Ori's telepathic powers?"

Cameron nodded seeing as he was the guinea pig on that mission, which didn't turn out so well.

"Well, because the Ori draw strength from followers, they each have a different, strong, frequency, which is difficult to isolate. The Ori chose a host of sorts from which to draw power during their, shall we call, 'antics,' so all we have to do is find that source, knock them unconscious, and use the frequency to block all the other signals from helping him reboot power."

"That's quite an elaborate plan. How do you find one believer out of the sea of people in the galaxy, maybe even from the entire universe?"

"Adria is the key; she broadcasts those frequencies. Normally, before she was created to lure other people into the religion, she was one of the most powerful of the Ancients. In fact, she was a part of the Alteran Council. She strayed from our path early on, and we gave Oma the duty to forcefully descend her. Oma couldn't handle both Anubis and Adria at once, so she let the lesser evil go, although we managed to make it so that she couldn't remember ever being a sentient being. The Ori saw the opportunity and used her as a hollow vessel to amplify their frequencies. It's all quite elaborate, so it would take an elaborate plan, like the one I've concocted, to render the Ori powerless."

A pin could be heard dropping from the silence in the briefing room, from everyone absorbing the information all at once.

Cam gave a low whistle, "That'll be a migraine once it sets in."

Landry, being the first to find any tactical use of this information asked, "So if Adria's the key to stopping the Ori, do we kill her?" He asked it gingerly, seeing as Vala was still her mother, but Vala remained seated and silent.

"That shouldn't be necessary, sir." Sam began to theorize. "All we need to do is jam her frequency, assuming she's the conductor or everything else. Am I right?" Sam glanced at Merlin expectedly.

"Samantha Carter, you are always right." Merlin beamed as Sam blushed.

"The Alteran Council realizes that you may find finding Adria and obtaining her signal problematic, and we appreciate your enthusiasm, therefore we have obtained it for you. We used her previous 'life-sign' as a template. All you have to do is program it into your device."

Jack spoke up, "Is it me or does that sound way too easy?"

"Trust me, Jack O'Neill, this has to be the easy part, because the hard part will be trying to aim the device at her while stopping ten Ori ships, millions upon millions of priors and believers, while saving your world from destruction."

"I knew there'd be a catch." Jack muttered.

Suddenly, Merlin disappeared in a flash of light, replacing himself with a cylinder attached with a note, which merely said, 'good luck.'

After a few moments of discussing with the military leaders, Sam returned to her lab to recalibrate the Ori device. Siler had actually tinkered with the Ancient device that Jack made to destroy the Replicators, and made it smaller to fit inside an SGC-standard issued vest pocket. Half an hour into the recalibration and Sam was already getting frustrated.

"I thought that all I had to do was put the frequency Merlin gave us into our device, but something is still off, and I can't figure out what it is. I mean, I figured it has something to do with Adria's special signature," she explained to Jack when he asked how it was going.

Jack gasped, "Samantha Carter can't figure this out?"

Sam hit him in the arm and said 'smartass' under her breath.

A few minutes later, Jack started messing with her stuff as Sam tried to concentrate. Sam smacked his hand and asked in annoyed tone, "Do you want to stay in here and help me recalibrate this or do you want get out alive?"

Jack got the idea and left things alone.

"There's only 12 hours left till possible death, I don't think you want people knowing you messed it up right when it was almost done." Sam continued.

"Well, if we really get technical, if we face possible death, no one's going to know anything."

Sam smiled but looked away; she didn't want to be responsible for destroying the world eve if no one would ever know.

"Well, I'm going to get something to eat before we all die. You need anything?" Jack asked.

"No, thank you."

"And Sam, if all else fails, just think magnets."

"Um, ok."

He gave her his half smile/smirk and left the room.

Sam was thinking out loud about what Jack had said, "Two polar ends, one positive, and the other negative. If the frequency isn't matching because of the constant bouncing of signals, maybe we can trap one frequency between two ends, because it originates from a template, Adria, and it should reconnect back to her, so that's it. Wow."

"I've got it." Sam announced as she ran into the briefing room.

"Excellent." General Landry remarked. "Now what do we do?"

"I can't get into the details, but we need to find Adria."

"Get Vala and Dr. Jackson in here; we need to talk."

A few minutes later, everyone was in the room, but suddenly a white light appeared and in its wake, a prior.

"Hallowed are the Ori. All non-believers must be destroyed."

The prior stomped his staff twice and the crystal on it began to glow.

"Oh shit." Jack said as Sam grabbed his hand for support.

"Somebody do something!" General Landry barked.

Sam ran out of the room to her lab, about to grab the device, when the complex began to shake. Sam looked around bewildered, but concentrated on getting her newly created device to function. She ran down the hall towards the control room when General Landry announced and demanded that all essential personnel evacuate to the alpha site. Fortunately, there weren't very many people there today due to the recent lack of activity in anything other than the Ori situation. A few teams were off-world, but they weren't due back for another day or so. General Landry, Jack, and Sam stood in the briefing discussing what to do while the personnel evacuated.

"I'm afraid we're out of time and options people. Colonel, do you have the device and is it working?" Hank asked.

"Yes sir, but it hasn't been tested."

"Well, here's your first test." He pointed to the prior.

"Sir, it doesn't work that way," Sam began to explain.

"Well, you better hope Adria shows up then, or there won't be anything to return to."

All of a sudden, the shaking stopped. They ran upstairs to the briefing room and saw that the prior was still there. Then, an explosion happened and the opening above the stargate was obliterated. The entire briefing room shook as they ran to the nearest elevator to reach topside. On the way up, Sam tinkered with the instrument.

"How can gods be humanized?" Daniel asked out of the blue and then started to ramble. "We give them power by faith, but we can take it away by knowing who they are and their name. In many religions, the gods and goddesses are not allowed to be iconized and their name is just a thing that humans give it for praise, but what is the nature of a god, who are they, what is their name?

"I was researching the origins of the Ori's name, and obviously it was derived from the word origin. But that does not give them a name; it gives them a façade to hide behind, this grand, enigmatic name. We stop Adria, whom we have named, and we reveal their true identity as false gods; they will become powerless without that name."

Sam sighed. "This device will stop her and that will take away their power, but they are still ascended beings."

"That would be the easy part. We'll deal with this first." Jack said he placed a hand in hers for reassurance.

When they reached the surface, a few priors, but no one else met them.

"Hallowed are the Ori. All non-believers must be destroyed."

"Oh cut the crap." Jack yelled. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

"I'm right here Jonathan O'Neill." Adria announced from behind them.

They turned around to see her standing unguarded, but with an air of superiority. Vala stood a little bit closer to Daniel and Cameron, trying to keep her tears from anger and sadness, perhaps about to see the death of her own daughter and perhaps even herself.

"I'm giving you one last chance. Believe in us, or be destroyed."

"O, give me a break." Jack said with exasperation.

"You let one man decide your fate? Who are you to decide the fate of an entire world?"

"I'm not, and I don't. I know people wouldn't worship you, because they already worship someone else, who may as well be, for all intents and purposes, the true god. We have no proof of it, but at least they don't go around the universe forcing devotion by killing non-believers. And I know those people with other faiths would rather die then submit to your religion."

"Are you sure about that? Well, then I suggest you pray to your false gods. We have run out of mercy."

Suddenly 10 ships emerge from the sky, over Cheyenne Mountain, and begin to shoot simultaneously at the mountain. Adria was admiring the blaze it was creating when Sam aimed her device at the nearest Prior.

General Landry looked over and whispered, "I thought the device didn't work like that."

"Well, we needed Adria in proximity as well, sir."

Adria, knowing exactly what Sam was doing was not surprised, and did not react.

"Foolish child, you dare not even face me while trying to destroy me, which you haven't and can't. We are gods!"

"I wasn't aiming at you, which was the point. I was aiming for every believer that your frequency transmits to. The common misconception is that we have to stop a signal from the source, but we can get a better effect by putting a stop to one transmission, which will lead back to the original source. It's all quite simple to destroy a god, especially a false one."

"Then why am I still standing here?" Adria retorted.

"Ter, you have no power. Watch as your priors begin to lose sight of what they are doing. Origin was just the origin of replication, nothing more. You tried branching away from the Alterans, but you are not the origin of life and love, you are merely Ter, the ending of what could've been."

"What did you just call me?"

"Ter." Sam stated firmly.

"What do you mean?"

Daniel's eyes grew wide with realization. "I'm not a scientist, but from what I can remember from college level Biology, Ori is the shorthand term for origin of replication in DNA. Ter is its opposite, the end. The origin of life itself is where you derived your name, but now we know what you are, and we can stop you."

"Stop!" Adria screamed. "That's nonsense. It's too late for you anyway. Look at your pile of rock!"

"It's too late." Adria whispered as she sank to the ground, on her knees and tears falling freely.

Vala ran to her side immediately and held her tightly.

Sam's hand held Jack's tightly, as they watched the Ori ships retreat into space and disappear, leaving the SGC in rubbles.

"Well, all things considered," Jack breaking the silence, "This is the best day of my life."

Everybody looked at him bizarrely.

"What? I'm engaged to the woman I've loved since forever, Danny, Teal'c and Cameron are back, and the Ori threat has been eradicated. Oh, and we're not dead." He added flippantly.

They would've reacted had they time to absorb what was still going on.

A few feet away, Adria was coming back to consciousness. The look of confusion was clear on her face, she never expected to be betrayed so easily.

"Where are all my followers? Why have the Ori forsaken me?"

Vala hugged her and soothed her. "Adria, no matter what happens, I'll always be your mother, I'll always care."

"Why? I burned you alive."

"Because you are my daughter and I would spare you that guilt. You believed that the Ori were gods, you were one of their priors, you didn't know."

"So what happens next?" Cam asked.

General Landry spoke first. "We're going to pick ourselves up, clean this mess up, and start over."

"I wonder why they didn't attack the whole world at once. We know they are capable of doing that."

"I guess the SGC is the Pentagon to the off-worlders. We are the place to hit first."

"Well, if we keep pissing people off in this universe, we'll be on the frontline for many years to come." General Landry stated dryly, and then added for humor's sake. "So, let's keep it that way."

* * *

**A/n**: So, what do you think? I've had this written (not typed) for the past year, but there was always something to add, and there was actually more, but I wanted to get this out. And I must say I can't get all the credit for that wonderful phrase: 'you are my personal  
black hole.' It was taken from **syxp'**s '**Tether**.' Read it; it's phenomenal:) Also, if you're interested in finding out the original date of Jack and Sam, it's in ch.5 of **'What If**.'  
Thanks again for reading and have a wonderful week/weekend! 


	6. Happy Endings pt 1

**Author's Note: **I'm finally back! Lol. I've had this chapter written for awhile, but I just couldn't get it to fit right. I figure it's finally time to relax after the battle, so here's a 'down-time' chapter. Thank you to everyone who's stuck with me, especially after the previous longer chapter. I'm trying really hard to finish this story before I head back to school so as not to make you wait another 6 months for another chapter. The next chapter has been written, just need to be typed. Hope you enjoy this one in the meantime.**  
Spoilers: **Possibly anything pertaining to S10. Slight reference to the movie.**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own the Stargate franchise, although I wish I did.

* * *

The SGC lay in rubbles. The Ori had just blasted through the Cheyenne Mountain and exposed the facility to the dark cloud that remained. It was getting dark and there was were no signs of the Ori ships returning. SG-1, General Landry, Vala, Adria, and Jack stood there among the blasted pieces of rock, and thought deeply of what had occurred.

"Not to ruin the silence, but we may have destroyed the source's power, but like I said before, these are still powerful ascended beings." Jack said.

"I think Merlin and the rest of the Alteran council can handle that part." Daniel offered.

"Sweet."

General Landry was still in a state of shock. "Everybody go home, get some rest. I'm going to contact all the necessary officials, Navcom to see if they spot any more ships, and let the off-world personnel know it's safe for the moment. This will still be there tomorrow folks; you're dismissed."

"Sir, we can stay." Sam started.

"No. It won't take me that long. I've got nowhere better to be. Besides, you two obviously have some things to celebrate. Congratulations." He smiled. "Who knew you and that old dog could settle down." Landry said, meaning it in the nicest of ways.

"I'll try and take that as a compliment." Jack smiled his quirky half smile.

"With all due respect sir, some of us have nowhere else to go. The base is practically our homes anyway. I'd like to help you check on things if you don't mind General." Cam added.  
Vala and Adria were still huddled in one corner of the wreck, they really had nowhere else to go.

"I, too, would like to accompany you, ColonelMitchell. This is, indeed, all our homes, and it would be unjust to leave you to do the work alone."

"O for crying out loud! Fine, but you don't have to stay, when this is all over."

"Well, Hank, I am technically who you have to call when something like this happens, so that's one thing off your to-do list. I'll make a few phone calls myself, and we'll be set." And as a side note to Sam, "Gosh, at least the bad guys could've postponed their attack until after I'd have time with my fiancée."  
Sam smiled, the first real smile since the Ori were a serious threat.  
They had prevailed again.

The mountain had been blown to bits on the surface and the regular entrance had been blocked. Luckily, there was a side access shaft that entered the base. Jack remembered using it when having the 'foothold situation' for the last training test for the new kids, and he suggested using it again.

-----------  
An hour later, General Landry was on Level 28 informing the Alpha site that they could start sending personnel back. Also, Vala and Adria had themselves checked into private quarters after a medical examination. They spent all night talking about Vala's past, Tomin, and how Adria felt about what happened. She was no longer convinced that the Ori were ever going to let her ascend. Vala debated whether or not to tell her that Adria once was an ascended being, but seeing as they've been through enough for one day, she didn't.

In the meantime, SG-1 gathered at Sam's house as it was closest and ironically, the most lived in. It was comfortable to just sit on the couch and let gravity sink you in it. Sam made chamomile tea for everyone, and handed Jack a beer.  
Daniel was the first to speak, "So, you guys finally did it."  
He gave them a broad smile, "it's about time."

"Indeed." Teal'c added with an equally large smile.

"I knew something had to be going on between you two." Cam yelled, jumping enthusiastically our of his lazy boy.  
"I'm happy for you both, really." Cam added realizing that Jack was still a general.

"So, have you guys made any plans yet?"

"Well, we hardly had time to think about it, because the SGC pages us the second, I mean the second after I proposed."

And that's how they started catching up on the events of the past week. Daniel talked mostly about Janet and Shifu, and Cam talked about the council meeting, and Teal'c put in his two cents about what they debated.  
Sam and Jack started brainstorming on wedding plans such as location, size, themes, etc. Sam said she had always been a traditionalist in the sense that she wanted an Air Force wedding with uniforms and all. Jack was a traditionalist in the other direction; he wanted a small backyard ceremony, without uniforms, just him and Sam and the people that mattered. Although, after Jack had described it, Sam was warming up to that idea, but nothing was set in stone yet.

It was around 10 pm when everyone started getting the munchies. They turned on the T.V and ordered some pizza. When the pizza came, the delivery boy recognized them immediately and stuttered for autographs. They responded with humility, but it was nice to know that not everyone was angry or against them. So, while eating pizza, they discussed what they had imagined if they had gone public sooner.

"Hey, you remember that documentary that Bregmen made? I wonder if that's been released to the public yet…" Daniel pondered.

"Probably," Jack answered with a swig of his beer.

"I actually think that would help our image," Sam added. "It shows them that we only kept it a secret for the publics' benefit, and gives them a real glimpse of what we have been through. And I know it hasn't been easy for us, but I've kind of embraced the idea of not 'hiding.'"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

**The next day: briefing room**- "So what's going to happen now?" Daniel asked, as SG-1 got ready to debrief. Jack sat idly tapping his index finger on the table just as Landry walked in. Sam and Cam tensed and proceeded with military protocol, and as usual, were told to be at ease.

"So, what's going to happen now?" Jack repeated Daniel's question.

"Well, I just got off the phone with the President, and he's considering on lowering the budget for the SGC."

"What?!" Jack practically screamed. "Right after we've saved his ass and find out that the Ori are a serious threat, and that we need as many resources as we can get, they want to cut our budget?"

"Jack, you also have to consider, Hayes is near the end of his term, and the public are none too happy about their tax money having been spent without their knowledge. A little leeway with out budget will ease some of their 'pain.'"

Sam and Teal'c remained silent as Cameron scoffed, "That's the thanks we get."

"The General's right. This reaction was to be expected. " Sam stated. "Everything is about the people here, and I'm quite frankly surprised WWWIII didn't break loose by now. I would say a little budget cut is the preferable alternative."

"Well, I begin negotiations with the UN tomorrow, and we're discussing how we can prevent war, of any kind. Lots of preventative action, very stimulating." Daniel quipped.

"Good. All things considered, that's all we really need to talk about. I'll have more news by the end of the day. The Pentagon isn't shutting us down, but there will be limitations."

---------  
For the rest of the day, SG-1 went back to what they were working on before the Ori had attacked. Adria and Vala having talked all night were sound asleep in their room. Cameron, having nothing better to do than right his mission report, decided to hangout at Daniel's lab where Teal'c was helping him translate some tablets found on an inhabited, but primitive planet.

"Ok, guys, what are we doing?" Jack asked as he sauntered into Daniel's lab.

"Cam's writing his mission report, and Teal'c and I are just working on something we found on P2R-406, it has the markings of a medical slate or experiment…"

"No, no. I mean what are we going to for my bachelor's party?"

"Oh, um, I don't know. You had something in mind?" Daniel asked still engrossed in the tablet.

Teal'c looked up from his work and asked, "What is a bachelor party?"

"It's a men's only party where the groom celebrates his last time being unwed. Most times, the men do something outrageous that they probably couldn't do when married."

Teal'c raised his eyebrows and asked, "And what did you do for your bachelor party DanielJackson?"

"Uh, well, the boys took me out and we went dune-riding…"

"You mean on those massive looking camel things?" Jack asked.

"Yeah."

"Sweet."

"No, not really. It reminded me too much of the first time that thing dragged me across the sand."  
Jack snickered.

"Will you be planning something similar O'Neill?"

"Nah. I think I've had my share of sand, plus I've technically already had a bachelor party when I was married to Sara. I haven't been a 'bachelor' for a while; my status is 'divorced.'"

"Then we shall have a divorce party." Teal'c announced stoically.

"S'alright, T."

"So, you're not going to have a party at all?" Cam asked, curious.

"No, but I'm going to go see if Sam's going to have one. That should be interesting."  
As Jack left the room, Cam went back to typing his massive mission report, while Daniel and Teal'c went back to translating.

Jack poked his head into Sam's lab and saw her taking a nap atop some 'energy readout' charts. 'Aw,' Jack inwardly thought. But, while Jack was trying to stealthily sneak out, he kicked his shoes clumsily against the blast doors and the metal reverberated. Jack cursed himself, but Sam didn't wake up, thankfully.

"Jack?" Sam whispered.

Or not. "I'm sorry about that. Go back to sleep, Sam."

"No, come here."

Jack walked over and as he stepped within three feet of her, she grabbed him by the waist and hugged him tightly. Jack chuckled a bit.  
"Miss me?"

"Yes." Sam answered sheepishly into his BDU and giggled.

"I don't know how I could've lived without hugging you for so long."

Jack smirked, "ditto." And then kissed the top of her head. "I came to ask you what you would be doing for your bachelorette party."

"Huh, I totally forgot about it. I had one when I was engaged to Jonas, don't really need another one. I might just have a little get-together with the girls. Vala and Adria deserve a little time out of this place, not to mention Cassie. She would be thrilled to hear we are getting married. She's been cheering us on for a while now." Sam said with a small laugh, and nostalgically thinking about Janet and how she wished she were here now.

"Hmm, yeah. We've kind of been going far too long without each other, eh?" Jack contemplated. "Indeed we have. Hey, but now you're awake, you want to discuss some of our wedding details or are you still too tired? We don't have to rush anything, ya know?"

Sam smiled appreciatively. "Yeah, I've been thinking about it too."

"No second thoughts?" Jack asked almost afraid.

"Absolutely not." Sam smiled brightly. "But, I was thinking, I kinda like your idea for a backyard wedding. No uniforms, but SGC personnel are invited of course. And, I was kind of hoping my dress would be light yellow?" Sam stated shyly.

"You can do whatever you want, Sam. Which also means, you can design your own wedding ring if you like."

"Really?"  
Jack nodded.

"Sweet." Sam had adopted many of Jack's little phrases. "O, and I'm thinking we can have the ceremony and the reception at your cabin, and then, I don't know. Where would you like to honeymoon?" Sam almost laughed at the thought. This was so surreal, discussing honeymoon plans with Jack O'Neill.

"Anywhere with you is perfect," Jack said.  
And then Sam nervously asked, "How soon do you want to get married? Taking in consideration of your position at the Pentagon, and the SGC needing me here, I don't know if we'll get things under way before we can truly be married…"

"How about we take things one step at a time? We don't exactly have a conventional relationship, let alone a normal life." Jack smiled his quirky half smile.

"You're right. I mean, the beginning of our relationship was forbidden to say the least; we didn't really have a good start. We don't even have a song."

"We'll find one. I'm sure there is a song out there about two people who save the world daily and plan on sharing the rest of their lives together after all the hardships."

Sam laughed. "Want to get some lunch? Planning a wedding can really make you hungry."

"All right, Carter. We can talk over lunch. I hear they have roast beef today."

* * *

**Author's Note:** The reference to "I'm not a bachelor, I'm divorced," is an allusion to an episode of the Sex and the City. Well, hope you enjoyed this rather relaxing chapter. We'll find out more about the budget problem, wedding plans, and how interesting the tablet Daniel and Teal'c were translating is. :) 


	7. Nirrti Haunts

**Author's Note: **Yay, update already, lol. Well, the story is moving along and it's coming to an end soon. Enjoy:)  
P.S. Unrelenting S/J in the middle. Refers back to the original story/blogging fest, "What If."

**Spoiler:** Seth. Metamorphosis. The Wraith from SGA.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Stargate franchise.

* * *

In the following days, the SGC had undergone some serious and difficult changes. General Landry received the phone call from the President late that night telling him that he, regrettably, had to lower the budget to allow for only 12 SG-teams and mostly reconnaissance missions, and anything else had to be approved. This was hard to deal with since the Pentagon had basically cut off half the bases' teams, and each team had been designated for certain missions to begin with. But seeing as 'active' missions were less likely to take place, the ex-SG-teams could concentrate on their individual expertise like Research and Development. Daniel was thus authorized to return to his previous mission to P2R-406 for missing tablets that he needed to translate to complete the set in his lab. 

**P2R-406**- It was Daniel and Sam at the dig site, while Cam and Teal'c asked around in the village for anything strange that had happened in the past few years. Daniel's incomplete research on the tablets revealed that the work was a follow-up on a previous Goa'uld geneticist, and the only geneticist they could recall was Nirrti. Everyone except for Cameron shuddered, but from what he read, he didn't want to be in her hands either. She was now dead, but someone seemed to have continued her research; Daniel was trying to find out who it was.

"What is it Daniel?" Sam asked as she placed her hand on his shoulder.  
"I'm not quite sure. The language and structure indicates Goa'uld and Ancient characteristics, which is not out of the ordinary, but it's also got something that's intriguing, a number sequence. Here, look." Daniel said pointing to the numbers 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, and 89.

"Daniel, that's the Fibonacci sequence."

"It sounds familiar; what is it?"

"Well see, if you add 0 to 1, it makes 1. Then add 1 to 2, that makes 3. Then add 2 to 3,"  
"And it makes 5." Sam nodded. "But what does that have anything to do with medical records?" Daniel asked in relation to his previous research, but before they could speculate any further, Cameron's voice sounded through his radio.

"Jackson, you read me?"

"We're at the dig site, what's going on?"

"We've got some intel that you might want to know about before you keep on digging."

"Ok. We're just about done. I'm going to bring this back with us."

"All right. See you in ten."

**SGC briefing room**- "What did you find out on that planet?" Landry asked as everyone settled in for the post-mission briefing.

Daniel spoke first seeing as this was mostly his recon mission. "Well, as we suspected, this is definitely Nirrti's research. We knew her to be a DNA manipulator trying to create Hok'tar, advanced humans. The tablet that I have in my lab was the first set of what I brought back with me today. The first set described results of experiments, most of which did not go according to her plan. The charts measured growth through a short period of time and some other things I still couldn't understand. Hopefully, with today's set of tablets, Nirrti's DNA research will be more clear. From what we know of her, she spliced a lot of genetic material to give super human capabilities to the specimen, but it was unstable and the person was a time bomb of sorts, waiting to die."

"And what did you find out Colonel Mitchell?"

"Me and Teal'c went talking to the folks in the nearby village, and we found out that there had been a lady a few months ago who used to buy stuff from the market occasionally. She never interacted much with anyone else and nobody knew her, but they said she wore a lot of exotic fabrics and jewelry. Sometimes, she would be accompanied by a man."

Daniel was intrigued by this, "So, this woman they're describing, it's not Nirrti is it?"  
"No, from the reports, Nirrti died 4 years ago; this woman has only been there, as far as they know, for 4 months."

Daniel squinted his eyes, pouted, and tried to think up an mythology regarding Nirrti. "She's from Indian background, at least the god the symbiote was portraying. That would explain the exotic look, plus the System Lords tend to dress fancy anyway. Nirrti has been messing around with DNA, for all we know, she could've made a clone of herself. Although, according to Hindu mythology, Nirrti was once the Guardian of the Dead, 'the one with an absence of sacred law and order,' and since the Goa'uld like to be accurate when impersonating gods, I'd have a fair chance at guessing who that woman is. Hear me out on this. The more popular belief is that, another goddess named Kali is the Destroyer and conveys death, so we can assume that Kali took Nirrti's job…In death and in genetic research."

"So, you're saying this new chick in town is another lower System Lord named Kali?" Cam asked.

"Yes. We even have her on record on the family tree seen when we were trying to capture Seth. As for the man, there is folklore that Nirrti had a masculine relation, not really a brother, but his name was Nirrta, who was then subsumed, absorbed into her as her other half. The symbiote could take that name, but I highly doubt that was Nirrti with him."

Sam and Teal'c had been silent the entire time, but was actually interested in the tale unfolding.

"General, does this qualify for us to find the new system lord or do we leave it alone?" Sam asked, honestly hoping to continue erradicating all Goa'uld, despite of budget cuts.

Teal'c was also interested seeing as there were still plenty more Jaffa waiting to be freed.

"I'll have to call the President." Landry laughed. "Seems like a nice loophole, doesn't it. And I'm sure you guys will be glad to get back in action. Was there anything else that I needed to tell the President?"

Cameron shook his head.

"All right, then. Dismissed. Oh, and Doctor Jackson, it probably goes without saying that you should translate those tablets as soon as you can."

As everyone got up to leave, Cameron and Teal'c walked over to Daniel and Sam inviting them to talk privately in the commissary.

"What is it?" Sam asked on their way there.

"We did not wish to inform General Landry of one particular detail."

"Why not, it's regular protocol."

"It's not really that, Sam." Cam interjected knowing full well of protocol. "We didn't want Landry and the President to think we had gotten into another 'situation' but we certainly found something interesting."

"A woman from the market informed us that her son was missing, shortly after Kali appeared in town. She claimed to have followed Kali to her home and discovered that it was not a home, but a laboratory. She told this to us in confidence that we may try and find her son." Teal'c said, sympathetically knowing what it was like to have lost a son to the Goa'uld once.

"We didn't promise her anything, but it's worth exploring." Cam added.

"What makes you think this would have alarmed Landry or the President? " Daniel asked.

"We don't know yet, so we won't tell them until we find out if it's worth telling."

"Is there anything else you would like to tell us, while you're at it." Daniel snarked.

"Indeed DanielJackson. You have poor sense of timing."

"What? What has that have to do with anything?"

"It doesn't. I am merely stating what you wished to know."

Daniel rolled his eyes. Sam laughed. "That's a good one Teal'c." He bowed his head.

"Cameron, you want to add anything to that?"

"No. Seriously, that's all we know. We'll find out more after you translate that tablet."

"Great. Well, I'll be in my lab working on something SG-5 brought back from P7E-052. You guys have fun." Sam gleefully walked off in the other direction.

"I thought we were getting food." Cam said a little disappointed.

"I will accompany you, ColonelMitchell."

"Thanks Teal'c. Daniel?"

"Nope. I'm off to translate. I want to make sure there's no more 'situations' we can get into."

"Yeah, with our luck, this will be another extravagant adventure."

"Only to you."

**What Sam was really doing- MySpace blogging**  
So, it's been a crazy few days. We've been 'remodeling' the SGC, and it's going well. Now that the threat of impending death is gone, life seems boring, but I'd gladly take that over anything right about now.  
Anyways, this is going to be the last blog I'm going to write as a single woman. Yep, I'm engaged, and you'll never guess to whom. (Yes, Jack insisted on correct grammar, and yes, it's Jack. It's quite obvious). Now, you must be wondering why I'm writing this blog at all. You see, these blogs started the relationship, so I'm ending my solitude with a similar blog entitled 'What If 2.'  
TRY TO BE COMPLETELY HONEST!  
WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF? (This is for you, Jack).  
1. I WAS RIGHT NEXT 2 YOU: I would be glad that I could finally hug you, rather than just let our shoulders brush against each other and ignore our feelings for each other:)

2. I KISSED YOU: I'd kiss you right back.

3. I LIVED NEXT DOOR 2 YOU: We'll be living with each other pretty soon:)

4. I STARTED SMOKING: I'd hit you, lol.

5. I SAID I WANTED YOU: I'd say, 'then take me.'

6. I WAS HOSPITALIZED: I'd visit you, hold your hand, and then go to my lab to figure out how you did it, unless you did it to yourself. Klutz

7. I WAS DRUNK: I'd give you some aspirin for the impending headache and remove all alcohol from your house.

8. I ASKED YOU TO LEAVE: At this stage, I don't think that's an option, lol.

WOULD YOU?  
10. BE MY FRIEND?  
11. KEEP A SECRET IF I TOLD YOU ONE?  
12. KISS ME?  
13. GO ON A DATE WITH ME?  
14. KEEP IN TOUCH?  
15. LICK ME?  
16. DATE ME?  
17. HAVE ME?  
**YES! To questions 10-17.**

AND MORE!  
18. WHO ARE YOU? I'm Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, soon to be O'Neill.

19. ARE WE FRIENDS? More than that, but definitely.

20. WHEN AND HOW DID WE MEET? In the briefing room on the first mission through the stargate as a team, about 8 years ago, wow.

21. DESCRIBE ME IN ONE WORD: Everything. See, there's a loophole to this question. I can't describe everything about you, but you're everything to me, so there it is. EVERYTHING.

22. EVER WANTED TO TELL ME SOMETHING BUT COULDN'T? That would've been a valid question if this survey was taken yesterday, but now, I can tell you anything without repercussion, like how much I LOVE YOU!:)  
**Jack's Comment:**  
_SWEET! I love you too:) But, um, I resent you calling me a klutz, Mrs. O'Neill, because you know I have a bad knee. It's usually Daniel who's the klutz. So…you wanted to lick me, eh? I can arrange that, lol. See ya when the commotion dies down. Love you, Sam.  
-Jack-  
_**Daniel's Comment:**

_Hey! I thought you were working on something in your lab! But, congratulations!!!!!!!!!! And FINALLY! Even though I already told you that yesterday. Anyways, I admit I am a klutz, there's no denying that, lol. See ya soon:)_

After Sam received the comments, her phone rang.

"Carter."

"Sam, what are you doing?"

"Daniel," Sam laughed lightly. "I was just about to start on my little project."

"Mmhmm." Daniel laughed. "I actually called about something else. I think I've found out what the tablet is all about, and I think you should see this. See me in five?"

"Sure."

**Daniel's Lab**- Daniel and Sam were both hovered over the tablet when Teal'c and Cam walked in from lunch.  
"We were told you have discovered something." Teal'c announced their entrance.

"Yes. Before the briefing, I had most of the tablets already translated, but what I didn't see was that when connected together, the extraneous markings from each tablet formed complete sentences of their own. It was an overall summary of Nirrti's research, but it mentioned something else. It holds the key to splicing human and Wraith DNA. If you recall, Wraith are the race evolved from the Iratus Bug that sucked the life energy of other creatures. It doesn't make sense at first, because Nirrti tried inserting a symbiote to the Wraith rather than the normal host. Why would a parasite want anything to do with another parasite? After all they are enemies even now, but after getting those results, she altered the human's DNA to mesh with the Wraith, and then implant the symbiote. This caused unexpected results in that it created an advanced being like Nirrti always wanted, but in an unconventional way. Nirrti was then able to remove the need for a symbiote all together but still have the host retain Goa'uld genetic memory derived from the naquadah. The interesting part is that there were certain parts of the Wraith DNA that masked the Goa'uld modifications and vice versa."  
Cameron was the first to question, "So, where does Kali fit into this?"  
"When Nirrti was destroyed, Kali conquered the rest of her domain, claimed Nirrti's property as her own, including her research, and decided to have someone finish it for her. Nirrta may be the person who was doing the dirty work while Kali oversaw everything."

"But why then was the boy taken, if the need for the symbiote was removed?" Teal'c asked.

"I don't know. The tablet says nothing of a surviving 'host.'"

"Shall we inform General Landry of the situation and request to return to the planet?"

"Yes, well not about the part about the boy, but we definitely need more information." Cam said.

Sam sighed feeling that things were merely going to go downhill from there. "We're going to have to tell him eventually. If we can get back to the planet, we are getting more intel on both cases of the tablet and the boy, and then we seriously have to report that to the General." Sam didn't like breaking the rules, even if it was something minor. Information could be deadly as far as she was concerned. After all, the Goa'uld went after them for so long, because the Tau'ri had knowledge in destroying 'gods.'  
"Is there anything else you can get from the tablet?"

"Well, there was one thing that had me confused and concerned. I still don't know how the Fibonacci sequence fits into this except for rapid-growing a human, exponential growth and all that. That's just speculation though."

"Daniel," Sam interjected, concerned, "If that is true, then they could grow an army with super-human powers in months."

Daniel nodded, "and, these markings here," Daniel pointed, "show they may have done this on several different planets already." And then he pointed to the last passage with a familiar gate address.

"One of which is _here_."

* * *

**Author's Note:** All info on the Fibonacci sequence, Nirrti, Nirrta, and Kali are taken from Wikipedia. The relationship between all of these will be revealed in about a chapter and half. I know there's a lot of expository, so I tried to mix it up. Hope you liked it :) O, and the wedding should happen in a few chapters if you're waiting for that. 


	8. The Lae's

**Author's Note: **Yay, things are moving along!  
**Spoilers: **None.  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the Stargate franchise.  
**Previously:** Kali and Nirrta may have sent one of the resulted advanced humans to Earth.

* * *

**SGC briefing- **"Here, on Earth?" Landry said with skepticism, yet with slight hope that Daniel had misread the tablet. "You're sure?"

"Those six symbols are irrevocably the address that I dial every time we come back home."

"And how exactly are you going to find this…specimen."

"We can safely assume we're talking about a Human/Goa'uld/Wraith hybrid. We were hoping we could find out more when we went back to 406, because there is a possibility that we met the 'specimen's' mom." Cam said with a barely detectable wince. "Me and Teal'c were talking to the locals and one of the women said that her son was taken by the strangers in town. We have good reason to believe she's telling the truth and that she may have more information."

"This changes everything." Landry announced and sighed in resignation. "I'm going to contact the President again. You have permission to go back to that planet."

"Thank you, sir."

**P2R-406**- "So, who is this woman we're looking for?" Sam asked after stepping through the gate.  
"Her name is Sor-Lae. Her son's name is Kai-Lae. He was but four years old when he was taken." Teal'c answered.

"And how is it that she lost her kid to them?" Daniel asked.

"She said that they lived by the woods, and that Kai-Lae liked to run around a lot despite of her warnings. One day, he wandered too far out, and while Sor-Lae was chasing after him, he just disappeared. If it had been Nirrti, I'd say it was the tree trick with the Asgard beam capabilities. Anyway, she had a feeling it was Kali and Nirrta though, because apparently, she's a very nosy neighbor." Cam answered this time.  
"O, they lived close together?"

"Well, no, but the woods end at the last house in the known village, and they were the new-comers. Let's just say they keep an eye on them."  
"Why didn't the villagers attempt to do something when Kai-Lae went missing?"

"Sor-Lae never told anyone. She lives alone, raising the child alone. No one would believe her anyhow."

Sam was shocked and drew in a breath. "I really hope this turns out okay. I don't want to be the person to tell Jack. And even though I'm sure we can pass a law stating we can't disclose information on on-going missions, as a security measure, this'll be huge if it gets out, _when_ it gets out. Imagine, an alien threat right in their midst, hiding."

"Yeah, well, really, what they don't know won't hurt them. That should've been our motto from the start. But then again, we always say whether we know they're out there or not, they'll still come after us. Better know sooner than later."

"Yeah, well, most people don't do well with logic when they're paranoid and panicking." Daniel snarked.

"Perfect." Cam said sarcastically.

As they approached Sor-Lae's house, someone walked out to greet them. It was Sor-Lae herself. "Welcome to my land. Please enter."

Sam smiled kindly and walked in first, holding her P-90 tightly to her side. Cameron sauntered in while Daniel and Teal'c followed behind. At first glance, the house seemed made completely out of wood, but there was also a concrete floor with marble tiling in the kitchen. This was a slightly more advanced world despite of its appearances and they had actually perfected the usage of solar power. There was no air conditioning, but the fans were running and there was tea ready to serve.

"Please take a seat," Sor-Lae spoke timidly, as she lead them to the dining room. Everyone took a seat while Sor-Lae served the hot tea. She smiled at Cameron and Teal'c a lot more, because she recognized them.

"We have not met, my dear." It was more of a question than a statement to Daniel and Sam.

"Yes, um, I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson, and this is Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter. I presume you are Sor-Lae. We heard that you have some information for us."

"Yes, and please call me Sor. As I have told the rest of your team members, my son was taken by the strangers living beyond the woods. I was hoping that you could help me get him back."

"We have reason to believe that he is actually on our planet as we speak."

"Really? How so?" she asked bewildered.

"The tablet we found near one of your archaeological sites showed us that the experiment was sent to our gate coordinates."

"But why?"

"We don't know yet." Sam chipped in. "We were wondering if you could tell us more about what happened, if you don't mind. Anything you think is relevant would really help us."

"Well, I really didn't want to tell anyone this, but I once knew the strangers. Well, they aren't really strangers to me, they are Lady Kali and Lord Nirrta to me." Sor said with a nostalgic tone.

Sam glanced over at Daniel; they didn't like the sound of that, "What do you mean?"

"I was once taken as well. I was the first person that was taken in this village that I know of. And I was pregnant at the time with Kai, and they told me they had never had the chance to treat a babe before, so they took me and knew they could trust me."

"How?"

"I had no one. Kai's father had left me and the villagers generally find woman, single mothers like myself, an outcast. That is why I live so close to the edges of town. And I believed they wanted the best for my baby. They told me of great wonders if I let them treat him."

"Well, if you knew them, why did you say that they took Kai?"

"Because after they treated him, I expected him to be given back. And he was, up until recently. This time, they took him without permission, and I believe it's because they believe that this child is rightly theirs."

"Sounds like the Goa'uld." Cam scoffed.

"Do you remember anything from when you were treated? Anything that could help us with how Kai might look like or his 'symptoms?'"

"I was never really treated, just Kai. And they only treated him as an infant. He grew up to be just like everyone else." Sor got up to get a picture of him. "Here is an image of him two years ago. He was 10 when he was taken."

"And that was only a few months ago?" Sam asked and looked at his profile. A boy with short brown hair that curled at the ends, hazel colored eyes, with a thin smile. He wasn't chubby, but he wasn't skinny either. "Are you aware if Kai matured too quickly?"

"Well, he was a fast learner and he seemed to grow every few months." Sor answered. "I am ashamed that I have lost my son." She bowed her head.

"You are not at fault. The Goa'uld are not trustworthy; you did not know better." Teal'c spoke with subtle gentleness. "I know what it is like to believe that they can be trusted. They took my son once as well. Parents are more susceptible to their trickery as they have the most to lose. You were merely being a mother to your son when you allowed Kai to be treated."

"Thank you, Teal'c." He bowed his head.

"I hate to break up this moment, but we really need more information to go on, before we can mount a rescue mission." Cam interjected.

"Yes, of course. As I told you, he was a fast learner, and he was strong. He would chop the wood for the fireplace all by himself. He also had strange dreams, he told me they were like distant memories of his. He was never sick and when he was, he would heal quickly. He was a bright, active young boy. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Kai was my first child, I had no idea of how boys actually grew."

Daniel deduced that the strength and ability to heal was from the Wraith genes, the dreams were the Goa'uld genetic memory, but there had to be something more than wanting the boy to be an extremely healthy child.

It was almost dusk by the time they reported back. There was very little information she could give them, but it was enough.

**SGC-** SG-1 took showers and wrote their mission reports before they all went to their respective 'homes.' They didn't have the mission debrief until the next day, because it was getting late and Landry had some calls to make as it was.

Sam didn't feel like going home, and Jack wasn't there anyway, so she stayed up to do some research to see if any strange occurrences showed up on the Internet. While she was online, she found a really cute blog to put on MySpace, as she hadn't updated in awhile. There was a fill-in-the-blank template to see what people wanted to say to her. An hour afterwards, she got a comment from Jack.

"_DearSammie-Poo,  
I Love you.  
You have a brilliant brain.  
You make me smile.  
You should stay home more often…with me.  
Someday (soon) I will get to call you my wife or wifey ;p.  
You + me happily ever after.  
If I saw you now I'd hug you forever.  
I want tokiss you.  
I would build a naquadah generator just for you. (But then you'd fix it until it actually works, and then I will have gone without you for more time that I can bare).  
We could sleep under the stars.  
Love,  
Jacky-Pie  
(P.S. I wish I could save the world with you, for you….)"_

Sam blushed. It was nice to come 'home' to this after a long day. She decided that she needed to comment back.

"_Dear Jack  
I love you (times infinity).  
You have a brilliant smile.  
You make me giggle.  
You should kidnap me.  
Someday I will put some fish in your pond.  
You + me "it's about time".  
If I saw you now I'd jump you.  
I want tohold you.  
I would build a a Simpson's themed park just for you.  
We could (and should) sleep under the stars.  
Love,  
Sam  
Ps…I'll always be your Carter, so you can be my Sir"_

Jack didn't reply to it, but both knew that the last line was meant to be endearing. No matter how long they were denied their love or were following the regulations, there was a time when 'Carter' and 'Sir' became their secret way of saying, "I know, I still care, wait for me." It was nice to know they had survived this long, and now they could take it to the next level.

Just as she was about to get some sleep, she found something interesting on Wikipedia. She researched the Fibonacci sequence and she discovered it was once used, correlated with, growth properties.

"Oh my gosh," Sam gasped. "This is not only the pattern for individual growth, it's also for population growth. That means, Kali and Nirrta could either be creating their Goa'uld army on Earth, or they're infecting people through biological warfare."

**Early The Next Day**- Everyone woke up bright and early for the post mission debrief. Everyone caught up on Sam's theory while Daniel said he might've found the place where Kai could've been taken.

"There was a child, matching Kai's profile, found in Dover, Maine. He was literally found in the woods of a nearby supermarket. He didn't know who he was or where he was from or how he got there. He was adopted a year ago by a Mr. and Mrs. Franco."

"Can we get people to extract him?" Daniel asked.

"Well, we can't exactly do this without alerting the average citizens. If word gets out that there might be other alien kids living among them and they don't even know, the Stargate Program will go under heavy fire dealing with child protection and human rights and a bunch of junk and excuses they make to make us look bad." Cam said.

"I talked to the President yesterday, and he says that Jack has already proposed a law to help keep on-going missions private, but if it is deemed life threatening, will be alerted to the public."

"How long do we wait until this law is passed? Besides, we don't know how long we have before whatever Kai was put here to do is done." Sam stated with obvious concern.

General Landry got up from the table, "I'll inform you when there is a decision. In the meantime, you still have some downtime from saving the world yet again. There's really not much more you can do, unless there's more to the tablet that explains all this." He said while looking hopeful towards Daniel.

"No sir, not yet. But I'll keep researching."

Hank nodded, "Dismissed."

Daniel was getting nowhere with the tablets, and even with everything translated for once, he couldn't decipher anymore meaning from it than before. Sam's new theory on population growth concerned him, but as far as he could tell, Kai could only be around 12 years old, there was little chance he could be starting his own population spike anytime soon. Daniel really hoped he could find more information out on the Web, but if he couldn't, they might have to go to the Franco residence, and get him themselves.

**Dover, Maine**- "Kyle Franco, what are you doing in that bathroom for so long?" Mrs. Franco yelled. "You've been in there for half an hour, you're going to be late for your first day of school!"

"Um, sorry mom, I'm not feeling well."

"What is it, hun?"

Kyle opened the door and Mrs. Franco almost fainted. There were blotches of blue on Kyle's skin around his stomach, and something was starting to form. "Mom, what's wrong with me?"

* * *

**Author's Note:** So, I finally got around to finishing this chapter even though it's not long and kinda just gets the info out. I promise the semi-exciting stuff happens next. And I couldn't refuse putting in some fluff to offset the expository. This was completely not what I wrote the first time around, but it leads into what I planned, so I guess it's good, lol. Also, I know there hasn't been any news on Vala and Adria and the consequences of power vacuum left by no bad guys. Oh, but the bad guy is about to emerge:) 


End file.
